


Spellbound

by limes_and_kiwis



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Updates, Spoilers, This is an oc insert story, using the trope 'person fell into videogame'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-03-25 20:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3824224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limes_and_kiwis/pseuds/limes_and_kiwis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Callie Brookes is a girl ported into Fire Emblem, stuck to play out the game until the end– or her death. With no option but to go along with the storyline, she must learn to fend for herself, or let the game consume her– without help from the outside world and with the looming threat that she isn't completely alone, AND that her company is keeping secrets from her, that could cost her greatly in the years to come… what makes a 15 year old so special, when adults have failed before her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Premonitions

Disclaimer: I only own my characters and the subplots. 

Prologue: Premonitions.

\------

Callie pulled herself up from the hard ground and stood in a daze for a few moments, watching fireflies obscure her vision. She felt drained– lifeless. Her shoulders sagged with invisible weight. She shook her head, batting away her fatigue and the invisible lights in front of her– she needed to focus. It was all she could do at the moment, injured, unarmed, and completely without any help.

She forced her feet to move with as much energy as she could muster, and the moment she did, her foot hit something hard– like a dead weight. It was only until she stood, blinking in confusion, before she realized that what she had hit with her foot, was literally dead weight. 

It was a body.

And it wasn’t just a body either– Callie bent down to grab their lifeless, gloved hand. –It was the corpse of a very close friend of hers.

But it couldn’t be, could it? How could he be dead? How could he be, after everything they had been through? He wasn’t supposed to die. He couldn’t die– If he did, then that would mean–

“You lost.” A voice answered her thoughts. She looked up, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over her dusky cheeks. Oh god– he can’t be dead–

Robin strode over to her, ignoring the body altogether and focusing on her terrified expression. He stood with dark streaks of blood down the side of his face, running down his arm and dripping from his pale fingertips. Two bright, red glowing orbs replaced where his eyes would be; his skin was taut and stretched over his features. He looked close to death himself– he looked more like an animal than human, more skin and bone than flesh.

“Why do you cry for him?” Robin knelt down to meet her watery eyes. “He’s dead– he isnt coming back– why would grieve over one singular, puny life?”

“Chrom–” Callie swallowed, forcing down her grief. “–You killed him. Oh god, Robin–.” She choked, gripping onto Chrom’s hand even tighter. As if that would bring him back.

The body of Robin curiously watched her as tears fell past her cheeks, and down her face. He quickly made a move to grab her chin, and Callie froze, horrified, as his cold fingers roughly wiped away the water from her face, smearing it with the blood on his hands.

“No…” Robin whispered. “You killed him. He’s dead because of you. They both are.”

She could dimly feel something inside of her crumble. Too afraid to do anything, and too late to save her friend from being murdered. And now his blood was on her face. What if he was right– what if it really was her fault.

“Though i admit, physically killing him my own hands might make me somewhat guilty.” His face twisted into a sickly-thoughtful expression. “I may have to take partial responsibility after all, hmm...”

“Robin, please–” Callie choked, new tears taking the place of her old ones, rushing past the ugly bloodstains on her face. “–You don’t have to do this, you can still fight–”

“Robin is dead. He isn't coming back. Please do try to understand that– I have no time for your petty grief.” He chided.

The heart of Grima shrugged, looking down at the fallen prince with a bored expression on his face. “Humans are weak– do you suppose that’s Naga likes them so much?” He mused.

“And this body–” He leaned closer to her, and Callie flinched backwards. “Why do you suppose he let me in?” He bared his pointed teeth and smiled. “Because he’s weak–”

He stood up suddenly, looking down at Callie from under his hood; his face illuminated by his brilliantly glowing eyes. He raised one of his arms and pointed at her, sparks of bright lightning began curling around his fingers and trailing up his forearm.

“–and so are you.” He scolded, letting the spell shoot past his fingers, and straight into her chest.

\----------

DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!!

This is the first of like 4 major edits im gonna have to do before im back where ive started with this story– and if you have anything you might want to voice about how this story is starting out, i'm definitely open to hearing about it! 

(also this story spans the entire game, and so i will have to choose some major pairings because future kids, and for the life of me i cannot figure out who to pair chrom with. either he gives birth to lucina himself or someone helps me out and gives me some ideas...)


	2. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDIT 2]
> 
> A/N:i plan to have at least 5 chapters done before the new game comes out. i swear. it was only announced in english yesterday– i still have time.
> 
> Disclaimer: I only own my characters and the subplots. 
> 
> Chapter 1: First Impressions

\------

Callie stood numbly in the middle of the road, blankly staring ahead of her. Her eyes jumped back and forth, like she was reading a book or dreaming intensely, but she stayed fixed to the spot, unmoving. Nothing but the sound of the trees above her filled the empty dirt road, besides Callie herself. The forest around her was only beginning to wake up, the morning sun cast a light shadow through the tall trees above her, the foliage around Callie still held raindrops on their dark evergreen leaves. 

Soon, birds quietly woke up– beginning their early morning tweeting and chirping, happily finding a new perch standing in the middle of the road. Tiny grey birds nervously hopped their way towards the unmoving girl, curiously testing her before collecting around her feet, and eventually perching on her shoulder. A few dark birds pecked at her long brown hair, sealing a few curly strands for their nests before taking off back into the trees. 

The entire time Callie remained frozen in place, completely unaware of her surroundings, she didn't notice the birds that investigated her, the sun rising in the sky, or– the group of people that found her hours later. 

A young blue haired prince slowed his mount to a stop as he and his company curiously gathered around the stranger. “Hey, are those birds....on her head?” he said, looking to his deputy for some sort of confirmation. The knight gave a thoughtful shrug.

“Thats so cool! Hey! How did you get them to do that??” gushed the prince’s younger sister, leaning out from her shared seat behind him. No response came from the brunette. “Excuse me?? Helloooo?” waved the young princess. Still, the girl standing in the middle of the road gave no indication that she heard anything. 

“She doesn't seem to hear you… do you think she’s hard of hearing?” observed the great knight, quietly watching the strange girl from atop his mount. 

The blue haired prince leaned forward, straining his eyes to stare even more intently at her face. “Hey, look at her eyes– do you see them? Moving back and forth–” 

“Chrom, does she look…. okay?” questioned the blonde princess, shifting the saddle they both shared to the left, trying to see past her brother. 

“I.. don't know..?” he answered, swinging his leg over the horse. “Hey– are you alright?” He asked the stranger, watching as her bird friends take off the second his feet touched the ground. 

His deputy stiffened. “Milord, I would advise against dismounting–” 

“I’ll be fine Frederick, you worry too much,” Chrom replied, taking a few awkward steps away from the horse– his poor saddlesore legs felt like jelly, and he silently cursed himself for choosing to ride all day. 

“But sir–” warned the knight, dismounting as well. He turned to see princess copying the two of them, somewhat slower and more careful– as not to catch her skirt. “Not you too my lady–” he sighed.

“Chrom, help me off this horse, I want to get a better look,” insisted the blonde, reaching down to free part of her skirt from under her.

“Lissa–” Frederick chided, receiving a dirty look from the princess. He sighed and took four quick strides towards her, offering her a hand down. “At least let me assist you, my lady.”

“Frederick, please– oh okay, fine,” Lissa huffed, taking his hand and using it to jump down. She quickly turned to her brother once again. “Whats she doing now, Chrom?” she asked excitedly.

“Nothing just– staring,” he replied, a few feet from her. He tilted his head to the side. “Do you think you could heal her– or is it some sort of spell?” 

“Thats not what my healing magic does, dummy–” Lissa responded, crossing her arms over her chest. “–and I haven't read of a spell that changes people from a drooling zombie.” She suddenly perked up. “Hey– do you think she would notice if I drew on her face?” 

The great knight groaned behind her. “Lissa–”

“Relax, Frederick, I'm not actually going to do it…..” the blonde replied, secretly crossing her fingers.

“That begs the question–”Chrom said thoughtfully, taking another step closer and raising his arm. “–how out of it is she, really?”

Frederick quickly took a few quick strides to reach the prince’s side. “Milord, I would heavily advise against touching her!” he warned.

Chrom ignored him, edging closer to the potentially injured girl. “Hey– are you alright? whats your name–” he asked, waving a gloved hand in front of her face.

“Chrom, I would not–” 

“Can you hear me? Hello?” the prince questioned further, giving her a small poke to the shoulder– still, she stayed catatonic, swaying a little with the poke to her shoulder. 

“Sir, please–” Frederick urged. 

With no other idea coming to mind, Chrom, as gently as he could, gave the right side of the girl’s face a quick slap. 

To which she responded– with a lightening fast, open palmed, smack right back at him. Hitting him right across the face with a loud snap, her hand left a deep red impression on his face, whipping it to the side. 

All three Shepherds stared with wide eyes as the stranger they had gathered around awkwardly opened and closed her hands, looking down at her bright red palm that mirrored the prince’s cheek. 

“I’m sorry but–” she held up her hand. “Why does my hand hurt?” She locked eyes with the prince, now holding the side of his face with one of his hands. “–and why is your hair blue??”

~~~~~~~~~~

Chrom was starting to get a little bit frustrated. 

“Like I said– my name is Chom, that’s my sister Lissa, and the great knight next to her is Frederick– we’re from Ylisse and–” 

“Nope. Sorry, but you’re going to have to be more convincing than that,” Callie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Why dont you believe me? I’m the real prince–” He unsheathed his sword. “–this is the real Falchion, my real hair color–” he said, putting his other hand on his head for emphasis. 

Callie took a step away from his very sharp-looking sword. “Look– I get it– you and your friends are really into Japanese dating sims– I like the game too– just please tell me where I am, for real this time.”

The prince put his sword back into its holder. “Dating sim?? What are you talking about?” 

“Sorry– tactical role playing game,” she rolled her eyes, making air quotes with her fingers. “Whatever, just answer my question, please.”

“I’ve told you four times, this is the road going to Southtown,” Chrom huffed. “South-west Ylisse, and south of Ylisstol– I really don't know how to be more direct here.”

Callie narrowed her eyes, getting frustrated herself. “Dude, come on, drop the act, you aren't convincing me at all– and I can see your roots showing.”

“My roots? That’s my natural hair color!” he seethed.

Callie scoffed. “Suuure it is –and my name is Pocahontas.” 

“....Is it?” 

“No!”

“Guys ,can we please calm down?” Lissa asked, stepping between the two. “Chrom come on, she’s obviously confused–”

“I am not!” Callie shot back. “I know who I am and I know that this isn't Ylisse– just give me some actual directions and I’ll be out of your hair.” Your fake, totally dyed hair–

“Unfortunately, you aren't going anywhere.” Frederick said, looking down at the three of them– Jeez, he’s tall. “It’s our duty–” he glanced at the prince, “-to see her to the next town–”

“Maybe even to a doctor,” Chrom quietly grumbled to himself.

“Oh my god, why is this happening to me–” Callie whined, covering her face with her hands. It wasn't as if she found herself in these sort of situations regularly– lost and completely unaware of how she ended up in the middle of nowhere and wait, was that a feather in her hair? What the–

“Look– I’m sorry if I wronged you people in some way–” she said, pulling the fluff out of her bangs.

“I mean, you did slap me,” the prince said, crossing his arms. 

“What– no I didn't,” she shot back. 

“Yes, you did?” Chrom raised an eyebrow, pointing to one side of his face. “Do you not remember slapping me?”

“Oh man! It was great!” Lissa gushed behind him. “I mean– yeah, you slapped him.”

“I- seriously??” Callie looked at the prince with a disbelieving expression. 

“Yup. Right across the face,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “You have, er– a pretty strong hand.”

“Ugh, thanks?” 

Frederick sighed and turned to the young prince, “Sir, i believe we are going somewhat off track.”

“I- oh, right. We can take you to the next town, get you some help, if you’ll let us–”

“Thats all I want! I just want to figure out where I am and go home,” Callie exclaimed.

“Look, miss..?” started the prince. 

“Callie. My name is Callie.”

“Right. Look, Callie, I don't know where you’re from, but I can tell you– without a doubt in my mind– that you are in Ylisse this very moment,” he said, evenly staring at her straight in the eyes. “I’m not– nor have I been, lying to you. Whatever is happening to you is not involved with us, and I can tell you now that we want to help you.”

Callie stood watching his face for a few moments, waiting for him to crack up or for some sort of sign that he was acting– but he was so sincere, she almost believed him. If the whole situation wasn't to laughably ridiculous in the first place. Maybe it was some big joke– Callie hoped they would get it over with so she could go home. 

“Okay,” she sighed. “Lead the way.”

“Um, before we do–” Lissa cut in. “Can I ask how you got here without any shoes?”

Callie quickly looked down at herself at the question- her eyes flew open and she could feel her face begin to burn. 

“...or er– pants?”

Looking down at her very bare legs– she grabbed the bright peach ends of her nightshirt and yanked them down to cover as much as possible. If this was a joke– it had been played on her when she was in her pajamas– in her big peach t-shirt and skin-tight black short-shorts. 

They seemed like such a good idea when I bought them for pajama bottoms, Callie thought as she slowly closed her eyes, wishing everything would just disappear and that she could hide somewhere dark for the rest of her life.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I really don’t wanna get on the horse, er–”

“Lissa, and its fiiiiiiiiiiine, we can walk, right Frederick? It’s not that far, right?”

“About 2 hours on foot.” 

“Absolutely not. You are riding this horse my friend. Come on, get up there,” The princess said, making a shooing motion with her hands. 

Callie looked pleadingly at the two men beside her, begging them to give her some reason not to hop onto what was probably the most terrifying animal Callie had ever met, and she had seen bears before.

Lissa went around Callie and held onto the saddle for her. “Its gonna be fiiiiiiiiine, you’re gonna be fiiiiiiiiine,” she soothed. “Just stay calm and don’t make any quick movements.” 

Callie took a few small steps towards the giant beast. The wet gravel under her bare feet stuck between her toes and she pulled her nightshirt down with the fabric balled in her fists. “What happens if I make any quick movements? Is he going to kill me or something?” she half-joked.

“Do you always assume death approaching large animals?” the great knight questioned, pulling himself up onto his mount with an easy grace. 

“Just the ones twice my size. And this one is looking at me funny,” she said, eyeing the horse. It gazed down at her with big square pupils and dark bushy eyelashes– The eyes of a killer, Callie thought. Dark pits for eyes that stare right into the soul. 

“She’s probably hungry, Wendigo is kind of a pig,” Chrom smirked. 

“Wha– no she isnt! You should apologise, right now!” Lissa seethed, before turning to the horse and softly petting its fur. “Shhhhhh, the bad man didn’t mean it, don’t listen.”

Callie took another tentative step towards the horse, watching as it nosed the side of Lissa’s hand as she rubbed her thumb over it in a soothing motion. Lissa knew what she was doing– Callie did not. She put a hand up to awkwardly pat the animal’s neck– the dark brown fur was thick and warm in her fingers, and Callie slowly eased up to its side, looking at Lissa for some sign from her in case she did anything wrong. 

“Have you never pet a horse before?” Chrom asked behind her. 

“Actually no, I did horseback lessons when I was 6 or something,” Callie cringed “I fell off this one horse and broke my arm.” 

“You wouldn't do that, would you, Wendy? No, of courrrrse not," Lissa cooed to the horse. 

Frederick shuffled in his saddle. “We should probably get moving, milord, it would be better to arrive in southtown before nightfall,” he said, looking down at the prince. 

“Right.” Chrom turned to the two girls beside him. “Some of us are going to have to walk. Somehow I don't think Callie wants to share her ride,” he said. Callie caught his eyes briefly flick to her legs before he turned sharply and awkwardly coughed– Callie pulled her shirt down again, mortified. 

“Wait, what? What do you mean,” Lissa cried. “Guys, am I going to have to walk?!” 

“It appears so.” Frederick said from the top of his horse, a hint of amusement in his voice. “If it is any help, walking will build character, princess.” 

“It does not help, Frederick!!” she said, turning to him. “Get down here and say that to my face!”

“Somehow, I don't think getting off his horse will bring him down to your height, Lissa.” Chrom teased. 

“Chrom, I am five foot three. You are literally two inches taller than I am.” The blonde narrowed her eyes at her brother. 

The prince scoffed and tried to make himself taller. “I hardly see what that has to do with anything, Frederick has no problem with my height.”

“Chrom!” Lissa seethed, taking a step towards him. 

Her brother took a step back and looked to Frederick for help. “My apologies sir, but it appears you have backed yourself into a corner,” the knight said evenly. 

Callie grasped the saddle of the horse and turned to the rest of the group. “Guys, are we gonna get going or should I sit down and watch as you kill one another?” 

“Fine.” Lissa grumbled. “But I get Frederick’s horse.”

“Pardon me?” the knight questioned. 

“Yeah, I think thats fair,” nodded the prince, edging away from his sister. 

Frederick drew his brows together, about to object, “But–”

“Now, now, Frederick,” smiled Lissa, as she looked up at him from the ground. “Walking builds character.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callie shifted awkwardly in her saddle– she could feel each deep breath of the horse beneath her, deep and even intakes of air that pushed her bare legs outward. The places where Callie’s skin rested on the saddle burned, the bright sun had baked the dark leather until Callie was forced to keep as still as possible as the great beast lumbered on, bouncing her up and down until she no longer had any feeling in her legs or her butt. 

The road ahead of them had gotten more and more treacherous for the horses, big smooth rocks jutted out of the dirt road and every time Lissa’s horse made a move to step over it, Callie’s heart made a little squeeze in the fear that the horse might trip and crush her. Quite often, Callie found herself drifting off into space– thinking about how she ended up where she ended up, or about how long it might take to sleep off her adventure. Usually her drifting was interrupted by a leaf or branch brushing past her, or in her case now, slapping her right across the face. 

Whap!

“Geugh, Lissa can you give me a heads up next time you send a branch flying behind you??” Callie called, clutching her stinging face.

“Oh jeez, I’m sorry!! I thought you were farther behind!” cried the princess, looking behind her. 

Chrom gave a sympathetic smile next to Callie’s feet. “I guess you call this karma? From earlier?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to apologize for that,” she said, giving him a weak smile. “I still don't remember slapping you though. I guess it was a reflex?”

“Must've been. That, or you really don't like people with blue hair?” he raised an eyebrow. 

Callie snorted. “I’m still not convinced it’s real– what do you use, L’oreal?”

“Whats that?”

“L’oreal? Like… hair product?”

Chrom gave her a questioning look. “Never heard of it, my color’s completely natural– has been since I was little.” 

“Or I’ve just been dying it since he was a kid every night!” called Lissa, up ahead. 

Callie gave a small smile. “She reminds me a lot of my little sister.” She said to the prince. “I wonder where she is now….” Maybe she planned this. Maybe she’s kidnapped her, hired actors to take her along, all for some big gag, Callie thought, perking up. There has to be a reason for all of this to be happening. 

Chrom stepped ahead of the horse and pulled on the reins, leading Callie through a much narrower path– Lissa and Frederick were already up ahead, and Callie could only see the top of the Great Knight’s head as he pulled his horse through the trees. More and more branches crept closer to her as she tried to lean closer to the horse– a couple of gnarly branches caught in her hair and she had to call out to Chrom to slow down as she hastily untangled them from her dark curly hair. After we get through the woods, my hair is gonna be a nightmare to untangle, she thought. 

“Hey, Lissa!!” she called, dipping down to hug the neck of Wendigo as another wave of branches swept down to grab at her clothes. “Do you have any hair elastics? I’m dying back here!”

“Hair what?” the princess called back. “What did you call them?” 

“Hair elastics? Is that weird?” 

“No, just– did you mean hair ties?” Lissa pulled at a bag strapped to the horse and dug around in it. “I dont think I have any in here– I can check later, if that's alright?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah, that’s fine,” Callie called back absentmindedly. Was it weird she felt a little uneasy about the hair elastics? Was it weird she felt like Chrom honestly didn't know what L’oreal was? How hard was it to avoid knowing about hair products? Or even simple words like hair elastics? Maybe they weren't from the same area– different terminology for different regions? If that was the case, then how far away was she from home? How had she gotten to that road– how long had she been there? 

“Hey Chrom–” she called up ahead of her. “When you found me, what was I, er– like?”

He paused for a second, looking back at her before leading the horse again. “Really out of it. It was like you were in a trance…. Your eyes were open and kept jumping back and forth a lot– you wouldn't speak to any of us until I touched you.”

Callie paled. “And how long do you think I was standing there?”

He stopped and turned to face her again, “Callie. We found birds around you. They were sitting on your shoulders.” He gave her a look. “I don't know how long you were there– but it looked like a long time.”

Her heart gave another painful squeeze. She looked down into her lap, not saying anything. Chrom went back to leading the horse without any comments, letting her sort through her thoughts in peace. 

She had woken up in the middle of a road– she had no idea how or why, and she had been there for hours at least, and she couldn't even remember slapping someone. She couldn't remember birds sitting on her or a group of people walking up to her, she couldn't remember the trip to the road or being dropped off there, despite apparently having her eyes completely open– was she going crazy? Was she sleepwalking? Had she been drugged? Had she been abducted? God, I feel sick–

Stay calm, stay calm– breathe with the horse– in, out, in, out, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Retrace your steps. Think back to what you did before. 

Last night was Sunday. She would have school tomorrow morning. Her dad had told her this at supper before she went upstairs and gotten ready for bed. She ignored her backpack with homework in it, and instead went to her DS on her bedside table. She turned on the handheld game and got in her pajamas as it updated the software for Fire Emblem on her bed. Then she– no, wait, she got in her pajamas before updating her game, then she…. what did she do next? What did she do next?!? Nothing, absolutely nothing. She took out her game, got in bed– and then woke up….

No, no freaking way. No way in hell was she going down that road. No way in hell was she where she thought she was. No way was she jumping to conclusions and making an idiot out of herself– no way was she thinking that maybe she really was in Ylisse, and maybe the people she was with were real– because that would be stupid– or crazy– she would be hallucinating or dreaming or losing her mind or something– just not this.

Because that would mean that she would be in a video game. An actual real-life video game that she can touch and see– 

With real danger and death and blood and gore and–

How far was she really from home? How long had she been on that road, and how long had she been away from her family? How can she get home? How could she get back? No no no no no, I don’t want this please– this has to be some sort of mistake– she pulled herself closer to the horse, clinging to it like her life depended on it. In a way, it did. She could feel her lungs slowly deflate with the air she wasn't sucking back in. She knew if she didn't breathe everything would start getting fuzzy and her head would start spinning, but it already was. The world was going out of control and Callie didn't know if she should start breathing again or risk blacking out and waking up in bed, safe and home and totally not in Ylisse. This has to be a dream. She’s been calling them by their character names this whole time– why did she go with them, why did she immediately trust them?! This is a joke– it can't be real. 

“S-stop, stop, I need to get off– I need…. I need...air,” she rasped, sucking in short quick breaths as she slid off the saddle and onto the ground. 

“Hey– are you okay?” he called, catching her panicked face as she quickly turned and started walking the other way. “Hey, wait!” 

The upturned stones and gravel cut into her bare feet as she sped back down the rocky road– the path was curving sharply left and right through thick brush set up on a steep hill, letting her take bigger and bolder steps down, encouraging her as she started jogging to keep herself from falling forward. The skin broke between her toes and she yelped as her foot collided with rubble– sending her on her hands and knees and she tumbled forward. She could hear voices behind her but the cutting pain from her hands drowned them out. She pushed herself up with her elbows, her bare arms had pieces of gravel caked into her skin. She couldn't even feel it as she ran her fingers over her mashed palms and knees, grey with pain and shock. A low, dull throb pulsed through her as she went to sit on her butt, not even caring about more dirt and gravel on her now– god, she was stupid. Why didn't she stay on the horse– Why didn't she just sit still instead of throwing herself onto the rocks– why couldn't she just go home–

“She’s down here!” called a voice, followed by hurried steps down the gravel road. 

Chrom slid to a stop, feet away from the girl in front of him, staring angrily down at her bloody hands. She looked up at him with angry tears, her dark eyes flashing.

“Hey– it’s okay, Lissa’s right behind–” he said, quickly followed by his sister who grabbed hold of him to stop herself. 

“Oh gods! Your hands!” she cried, reaching behind her for the wooden staff slung between her shoulders. “Its okay, I can heal you quickly, it won't hurt–” she said, lighting up the crystal perched at the top of the staff with an unnatural glow. 

Callie jumped to her feet, taking a few steps away from the light. “Get that away from me–” she said, shaking. Her feet met the steep hill behind her, and she teetered on the edge.

“Its okay, we won't hurt you,” Chrom said, reaching out for her. 

“I said get back!” she said, pulling away from his grasp and away from the safety of the ledge.

‘Tuck in your elbows, kid,’ echoed a voice inside her head–

–and she almost felt something push her backwards. 

Suddenly she was tumbling over the edge, down the hill and through the brush– past trees and bushes and bramble and tall grass– away for the hands that went to catch her and into the wet dark forest as she rolled through steep bushes and thorns that cut into her bare skin and tore at her hair– catching them for real this time and keeping them as she fell faster and farther down, down, down the steep incline and into unknown territory– landing on the hard ground on her side– right onto a thousand tiny rocks that bore through her skin and hurt her so much more than any normal rock should– so much more than the other rocks that hurt her before. 

Callie’s head hit her arm as her arm hit the ground– soft at first but then her skull hit bone and she couldn't feel her arm– she couldn't feel anything. The world was still spinning but this time she saw dark spots obscure her vision and all she could hear was the ringing in her ears– but faintly she could hear them, calling her back up on the hill. She wondered if they would go on without her. 

Pain met her in waves as she started feeling again. She slowly let out a long wheeze and turned to lie on her back– her sides felt like they were on nails. Her eyes fluttered closed for a few brief seconds before she turned her head again to look right into the face of another person next to her. 

And as he let out a groan identical to hers, whatever doubt inside her crumbled as she stared at his bright white hair and dark purple tactician robes. 

She was in a freaking video game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COUGH WHEEZE COUGH I CANT BELIEVE IM FINALLY DONE THIS GOOD LORD ITS BEEN 8 WEEKS 
> 
> also its 6:30 am and im a big baby who cannot do time management. that is all. rip.
> 
> Edited by my beautiful best friend Laura who has to put up with my terrible spelling~ u da bes


	3. The Oracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter in which, once again, callie questions everything and has another round of anxiety- somehow bullshitting her way though the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like every time i copy-paste this story from googledocs- all of my formatting is trashed and bold and italics are just gone….. as of now i refuse to re-edit these past chapters because I've worried about them far too much than humanly possible

A lot of things were running through Callie’s mind as she slowly watched the sleeping tactician in front of her. Many of those thoughts involved running far, far away from him and what came after he woke up. Many of the thoughts in her head told her she should do something– roll over and face him, get up, maybe say something, maybe put on some pants– but instead she listened to the overwhelmingly loud voice inside her head, the one talking above all the rest. 

“You didn't tuck in your elbows.” They said, their voice buzzing around in her head like bees. 

Callie whined and scrunched up her face, trying to will the voice away. The tactician next to her rolled his head to the side, she could see his pupils move under his pale eyelids. Callie tried to ignore them both. 

“I’m not going away– and despite your wishful thinking, neither is he.”

Callie whimpered and shut her eyes, covering them with her palms. “This isn't happening, this isn’t real.” 

“Funny, but I've heard that line before. Get up, this isn't the time to start crying.”

"No no no this is crazy" she said, pulling herself into a sitting position. "I'm losing it. I'm actually losing it." she scooted farther away from the unconscious boy next to her. "I'm going completely insane-"

"Alright, alright, stop freaking out, you aren't going crazy."

Callie gave a strained laugh. "Says the talking voice in my head."

"Point taken, but let's just approach the real issue at hand here-"

"Which is?" She said, reasoning with the voice. At this point, they sounded more sane than she did. Which was saying something. 

They paused. "You're in a video game," they said bluntly. "And I'm here to make sure you don't go completely insane, grappling with the idea that you've been turned into a collection of pixels."

"I'm in a video game." Callie bit down harder on her cheek. Yes, a video game made sense. Totally. Better than being abducted as some sick joke? In her sleep? Both of them were a stretch, but at least one of them wasn't completely ridiculous and unbelievable. "You are kidding, right? You can't be serious."

"I'm always serious."

She waited for them to continue, but apparently that statement was enough for the great voice in her head. "That must be so exhausting, my god, is my imagination really so boring?"

"I am not- and I'm not part of you imagination either, I told you- I'm speaking to you directly to make sure you're not going crazy."

"And that means speaking to me in my head. Like a ghost. A literal disembodied voice. Didn't you think, hey, maybe hearing voices from people who aren't there would only make me think I'm going crazy?" 

"Well, you put it that way...." They said, trailing off.

Callie narrowed her eyes. "Put it how? Like how it literally is?"

"Look okay, if I was just a part of your imagination, could I do this?" They said, right before something tugged at her hair. 

"Ow-hey!" She batted an arm at the air- nothing. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. How in the world-

"Ooor this?" They buzzed as an invisible hand shoved at her shoulder, shoving her back a bit.

"Stop- jeez!" She said, pulling herself back up. "That's annoying!" 

"But do you really believe me yet?" They asked. "One more for good measure." 

As they said that, a large gust of wind flew through the trees, blasting through the leaves and throwing callie down on her back. She shut her eyes and covered her face with her hands to shield it from the debris hurtled her way. 

"Okay, okay! Enough! You're real, I get it now!" She cried, peeling herself back up from the ground. The unconscious tactician next to her had several bits of muck and leaves plastered to his face, she carefully started picking them off him. "A real jerk, that is."

"My character isn't coming into question here." They stated. Their voice a buzzing monotone noise. It felt like her whole brain was vibrating- ugh, it made her ears ring. 

"Yeah, well, I'm questioning it. Who the hell are you anyway?" Callie huffed, getting annoyed. 

"You can call me The Oracle." 

"You're kidding me, right? What kind of name is that?" She exclaimed. What a stupid thing to go by, it practically screamed pretentious know-it-all. Though, the name might actually fit for them. 

"It's not a name, it's a title. You don't need to know my name, we aren't going to be friends." The Oracle snarked, catching onto her thought-process. 

Callie made a face. Man, what a jerk. "And if I don't?"

The wind rustled ominously in the trees around her. 

"Right, okay." She grimaced. 

"Back to the matter at hand. You. Video game."

Callie grunted, not wanting to continue that conversation. She doubted they were going to let it drop though. "It makes no sense." She argued. "There's no possible way I could be in a video game."

"There's no possible way someone could be talking to you in your head, but you believe me now." The Oracle countered. 

"Yeah but I had proof of that, plenty of proof." Callie retorted. "More proof than needed."

The oracle's voice buzzed in annoyance, "What do you think Chrom, Lissa and Frederick are?" They echoed, the words bouncing around in her skull. She cringed and covered her ears to try and make the pain go away. 

It took a few moments until she actually registered what they said. When the pain from the oracle's voice receded, she scoffed. "You can't expect me to believe that they were the real thing. "

"Yeah I can." They stated.

Callie's brows knit together. Man, she was getting tired of them being so blunt. "You must be joking- that sort of thing just doesn't happen. It's make-believe. Fictional."

"Maybe in the world normally, but this is a video game, as in, a literal work of fiction." They buzzed again, their voice cutting into her brain. There was no damn way to make it any quieter either- it was like they were purposely turning up the intensity of their voice to get their point across. 

"God- will you quit doing that!!" She seethed, slamming her hands over her ears again. It was pointless, but she needed to do something to get rid of the sound. Lord, the sound was killing her.

"Not until you accept that I'm right! This is a simulation and you're supposed to play it!" They snarled, their voice ringing louder.

"I'm not going to play in your stupid game!" She cried, clamping harder onto her ears. 

"You have to!" They snarled, getting even louder. "There's no way out otherwise!" 

"What?" She asked in a small voice, dropping her hands. "What do you mean?"

The Oracle's voice grew tired and bitter- quieter than before but nevertheless cutting right into her. "There's no way out until you beat the game. You're stuck here until you beat Grima." 

"But I can't do that- I'm just a kid." She whispered, clutching the pale fabric of her shirt. "it's impossible, I'll get killed." 

"Yeah," the oracle muttered. "You will."

Tears welled up in her eyes, "Then why put me through this?? Why pick me if I'll just end up dead in the end?!" 

"I didn't pick you." They replied, "Thats just how this works- somebody starts up their game and they're randomly chosen to play. You aren't the first one to do this, there's been quite a few." 

Callie forced down whatever liquid was forming in her eyes. Stupid, weak, childish tears- "what?-what happened to them?" She stuttered out, hating the sound of her voice cracking. 

"They all died." 

"Oh-" She breathed. It felt like ice cold water had been dumped on her. Her fingers shook on her lap and she clenched them together, forming fists. "-God." 

"They're called Naga and Grima here. You should get used to how things work in the game sooner rather than later." 

"I don't want to get used to it at all!" She exclaimed, hitting her legs with her fists. "I want to go home!" 

"Well you can't." The oracle said, shutting her down. "You can't go back, I'm sorry but that's just how it is. I would send you back if I could, but I can't." 

"Why not?" She cried, pulling her legs closer towards her. She wrapped her arms around her knees. "You can control the wind and talk to me without being there- why can't you send me back???" 

"Because I just can't, alright? I'm stuck here too." 

"What?"

"I'm not like you- im not a player and I'm not an NPC, not that there is any anymore, but I'm just- supposed to set you on your way and make sure you don't die, but I've been doing a pretty crappy job so far." They muttered. 

Callie pressed her forehead into her arms, curling herself tightly into a tiny ball. What did she think? She didn't know. She didn't know anything at all. She didn't want to be in a video game, she didn't want to fight grima, and she didn't want to die. Not in a million years. She was fifteen, or gods sakes, despite how much she thought of herself as some big kid, she was still a kid- she still wanted her parents and family around her, she missed her friends, she missed her life! She didn't want to die, she had barely even lived! And now. And now the oracle had pretty much told her that everything was over. She felt sick- she felt tiny, painfully small and insignificant. Like a bug about to be crushed. Maybe if the oracle hadn't told her anything, she would have felt better. 

"I think..." She whispered. "I think I want to stop talking to you now." 

The oracle was silent for a little while, before answering. "Right. Yeah, okay. Call if you need me, but I still need to explain stuff to you when the time comes."

"I'll make do. Just... Leave me alone." She muttered, lifting her head up to rub at her face. 

"Right, but-" they argued. 

"Just go! I don't want to talk anymore!" She cried, balling her hands into fists again. 

And then, finally, they left, leaving her head with utter silence, and that was probably worse than conversation. at least she was distracted then. 

War. Magic. Grima. It was all real. grima was alive- or would be soon. 

She felt like screaming. She felt like tearing out all of her hair and pounding her fists into the ground. She was a highschool student- not even a good one at that- and now she in a freaking videogame. a videogame where other people had died in her place. She didnt even know who they were. they could have been her age, they could have been older, more experienced… with… video game… things? being ported into a freaking game had to require some sort of skill, right? you had to be… well… not an emotionally compromised teenage girl, for one. She could hardly make it through 5 days of school, how the hell-literally, how the HELL was she expected to do this? how was she supposed to do anything other than rock back and forth quietly crying to herself? how was she supposed to survive? did she even have a chance in the first place?

was she really going to die? 

she didn't want to. not now, not ever, if she could help it. there were too many things she still wanted to do, too many things she hadn't done- she wanted to graduate high school and go to college, she wanted to see her little brother and sister grow up and she wanted to to be a family with them and she wanted her dad- she wanted her parents to make things better somehow and she wanted to be home, warm and safe. She didn't want to die. She hadn't even lived yet. 

and now… it felt like that had all been torn away from her. If a bunch of other strangers all died trying to beat the game, how could she? what made her so special? nothing. she was weak, she was tiny, she couldn't even handle being in the game properly. She was doomed from the start. Just thinking about it now, the future was a heavy weight on her chest, nearly suffocating her. 

A death sentence. 

That was what this game was. 

Callie looked back at the boy next to her. His bright white hair, his tactician cloak... God it was just another slap in the face telling her that she was doomed. 

She glared down at him. "Screw you and your stupid quest." She covered her face with her hands. This was all so stupid!

She was doomed. She was probably going to die- no, not probably, definitely. she was definitely going to die. but…. what could she do in the meantime? play along? do her best? wait until something cut her down? a little grin appeared on her face. or… she could wreak as much as she could in the meantime. ohhhh, yesss. she could break stuff. that seemed like a much better use of her time. Play along with the game, but try to destroy as much as she could with her bare hands as possible. and, really, what was the difference between beating the game and just… beating everything? maybe, if she put enough effort into it, she could punch right through the code and into her world. maybe she could punch a hole right through universes if she tried hard enough. yeah… that thought made her feel better. screw dragon gods, she was a sad teenage girl, the world was her oyster! if people on tv could do impossible things, so could she! she was in a goddamn work of fiction after all, how hard could it be??

and- looking on the bright side- at least she didn't lose her memories at the beginning and have to go through slowly losing her mind! Yeah! At least.... She wasn't.... That guy..... 

Callie looked guilty down at the boy next to her. He made a pained expression on his face, and he turned his head to the side. okay, maybe she didn't really hate him- but damnit, he represented the game at a moment where she really did just feel like lashing out. Even if he was unconscious, that still didn't mean she should hate him. Which begged the question, how the hell was she supposed to act and feel about actual characters from a game. one that she played. she knew their backstories, their futures- how was she supposed to act natural around them? would they accept her into their group? would she be friends with them? suddenly, the thought made her want to run and hide again. today was not the best day.

The unconscious tactician's eyes fluttered. it looked like he was having a pretty awful dream. 

Poor sucker. It wasn't his fault he was the living heart of a dragon god, and-

Wait, didn't Robin refer to him being woken up in the start of the game, like, the beginning of his life? Like his memories? Like. Ever? 

And now because of her literally landing next to him, via divine intervention, Callie might very well be the first thing he ever sees instead of Chrom and Lissa. 

And that was wayyyyyy too much pressure for her. Nuh-uh not going to happen. 

She made a move to get up but before she could, a hand shout out and fingers wrapped around her ankle, startling her. 

"W-wha-" she stuttered out, before she was pulled to the ground again by a surprisingly strong grip. Callie landed on her butt for the second time that day as her feet went out from under her, flinching as she felt the pain radiate up her spine. 

"Owchhhh..." She whined, cringing and closing her eyes. When she opened them, a figure loomed over her, eyes glowing a deep red. 

"Oh- oh my god-" she squeaked, scooting backwards, bare feet kicking on hard gravel. "That is NOT supposed to be- UM. A-are you okay?- dude???" 

The creepy, dragon-possessed Robin tilted his head, before taking an unsteady step forward. His hood was drawn up, casing a dark shadow across his face, besides the two glowing pits where his eyes had once been. They flickered, on and off, as he lifted an arm as if to grab her- or shoot her in the chest like he did to Chrom in the intro, Oh god do something-

She let out a tiny, embarrassing whimper as he took another step towards her, before she came to her senses and kicked his legs out from under him- he fell to the crowned with such a beautiful crunch, she almost felt proud of herself. 

She tried not to gloat as she waited for him to get up. 

When he didn't, she prodded him with her big toe, severely worried she hurt him really badly. 

"Oh my god." She said in a tiny whisper. He remained motionless. "I've killed him- the main character- oh my god what do i do, what do I do??" She looked up to the sky for help. Did she dare ask the oracle? After just sending them away? 

She looked back at the guy she just potentially murdered. His corpse let out a little moan. 

"Oh god, it's death rattle- I really have killed him." She cried, putting her head in her hands. What was she going to do? He was the main character! He was supposed to be a super amazing tactician who was supposed to have weird dragon-ey visions and- and now he's dead. What was she going to do? Run away? Hide the body? Assume his role somehow? Oh man, this was game over wasn't it? How was she supposed to get home now? 

"This is the worst day of my life." She moaned. 

She glared down at the body- the nerves still active as fingers twitched in the gravel, they- oh hey, he's still alive. 

"Nngnl...." He slurred, propping himself up with both arms. "...what....why...?" 

Callie flinched as his eyes finally focused on her- they were nice, brown human eyes. Very nice actually, especially when they weren't deep red and glowing. 

She turned her gaze back at him as he blinked at her. She felt a pang of guilt as a trail of blood ran down his chin, gravel sticking to parts of his cheek and forehead- she gave him a bloody nose. Great. 

"You're, ugh. Bleeding." She stated, averting her eyes again. 

Please don't have a broken nose, please please please.  
When she turned back, he was still staring at her, blinking. This was worse than before. Now she just felt awkward and guilty. Ugh. 

"Blood? Dude, do you have head trauma? Crap, oh god what do I do-" She said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Quick, count how many fingers I'm holding up." She held up three, praying that she didn't somehow screw everything up already. 

He blinked at her, before his eyes flicked to her hand. "Two." He mumbled, looking back at her. 

Callie groaned and covered her face with her hands. "Great, just great. What am I going to do now? You've got a concussion- or worse-" 

"Thumbs don't count as fingers." 

"I can't believe- wait what?" She gaped at him. "What did you say?" 

He pulled himself into a sitting position, copying her, before rubbing his forehead with his palm. Dirt and gravel fell into his lap as he tried to blink away what looked like a terrible, terrible headache. 

"You wouldn't call it a thumb-finger, right? Ring finger, pointer finger, pinky finger...." He said slowly, pointing to each on his left hand. He turned his attention back to her, a confused and somewhat pained expression on his face. "Why..... Can't I remember anything...?" 

"Uuuuuuhhhhmmm..." 

And that was pretty much it. She was screwed. The jig was up. how in the world was she supposed to break it to him that he has no memories because an evil dragon from an alternate future tried to merge with him and use him as a flesh-puppet. How does anyone explain that?

'Somebody please come forward and help. Oracle, now. This is your cue. I'll forgive you for being a massive asshole if you just help me. Right now. Right. Now. Riiiiiight. Nowwwww. Goddamnit, you're literally the worst.'

The oracle was a sham and a liar and- yeah she was boned. That was the last time she was going to rely on the voice inside her head for any sort of help. What a prick. 

She would have to wing it. 

"Eeeeeughh..... Ughhhmm...what... Do you mean???? Exactly????" She squeaked, her voice cracking slightly. 

He looked more concerned for her well being than his, tilting his head to the side. “I mean, apart from this, right now, i literally cannot remember anything.” 

Success. He bought it.

She… was SO not the right person for this conversation. hell, chrom, frederick and lissa weren't the right people for this conversation. a doctor, a psychiatrist, a relative, they were all much better people to deal with this issue. but looking around, callie was the closest thing to any of them. she was literally, the most qualified person to deal with this, which wasn't really saying anything for her since she was literally the only person in the area. they could always wait until the shepherds made their way down the near-cliff callie fell down, but it seemed, well, really far up and she didn't expect their help any time soon.

Plus, she couldn't stall for that long.

She took a deep breath. “well, then it appears you have amnesia.” yes, it was all going to plan. “I wouldn't think its a complete amnesia- you can talk and educate me on finger terminology.” she paused, making a face. “Maybe you’ll be able to remember things if you try hard enough- like a name?” 

He closed his eyes and thought about it for a second, before looking back at her and shrugging. “I got nothing.” he said, looking slightly defeated. damn, he was pretty much in the same position as her, wasnt he? no idea about the world around him, waking up confused and disoriented… ah crap, she had to be nice to him now. 

“My name is Callie,” she offered, shrugging. “And you're in Ylisse, as far as i know.”

He raised an eyebrow, white, just like his hair. “What you mean by that? you don't know exactly?”

“Oh, i um–” she stuttered, damnit, it was lying time already. “Kinda got found by some travellers a little while ago? apparently i had been under some…” she paused making a hand motion. “...sort of spell. I snapped out of a trance and found out i was in a completely different place. yeaah. weird. apparently the place we’re in is called Ylisse. its nice, its got..” she looked around the dreary forest, nothing really popping out at her. “trees. bushes. a couple of people to be discovered here and there. nice place.” she said, fumbling for words. lord, she made the worst tour guide. 

“right….” he said, not quite convinced by her stunning attempt at lying. maybe he just didn't like the incredible and exciting scenery. trees, trees and more trees. bleh. “You said you were under some sort of spell? do you think it could be the same for me somehow?” 

He was trying to find some sort of link, some sort of answer as to why he was… well, what he was. Dang, it kind of broke callie’s heart. And he had some real good puppydog eyes, that was for certain. It almost.. hurt to look at them, jeez. She avoided eye contact.

“I… really dont know. I mean, i have my memories. and i dont… ugh, remember you? i think i would remember a guy with bright white hair, for one..” she said, nervously laughing. it kinda made her feel guilty, shooting him down like that, but damn, lying about knowing him would have been even worse and she couldn't have lead him on like that. nope. if she had to lie to everyone, it was gunna be about herself, damnit, she wasnt going to drag anyone else along. 

“Oh..” he said. damnit, she could see the hope drain from his face. arrg, she was such a jerk! why was this so difficult!? “Wait, what did you mean white hair?” he asked, confused. 

“i…” callie faltered. what… did he mean by that? “do you… not know what you look like?” oh. stupid question. he has amnesia. good job, alienate him even further. She slapped her forehead with her hand. “wow, i am so sorry. we could… find something to show you?” she said, looking around. a forest didn't really have anything reflective…. 

“oh, ugh, its fine, you dont have to get up…” he said weakly, holding up his hands. 

“what? yes i do.” Callie said, eyes looking for something that could be useful. dammit, it wasn't like she was asking for miracle here! tinfoil, a puddle, anything! someone didn't just go around not knowing what they looked like! it just.. wasn't normal, he didnt even know his name, and even though she knew, she couldn't tell him. It was something he had to figure out by himself, at least she could help him with his reflection… “come on, i’ll help you up.” she said, holding out her hands. he took them, after a seconds pause. 

right, she was a stranger. and probably the only person he ever saw, good lord. she pushed down her anxiety over THAT subject. freak out about it later. she had something shiny to find. 

She had to use a bit more strength than usual, helping him up. and once she did, she took a half step back. Damn, he was tall. like, taller than normal tall. Callie was a short person, standing at five foot three, she was rather small but… holy crap. he towered over her. he must be what, 6 feet? she hadent even stood close to frederick to get a good look, but yeah, they were the same height. maybe robin (or whatever name he took later) was even taller. What a monster.

“wow… you- youre… tall.” she stuttered out. jaw dropped. 

He looked down at her. like, really looked down at her. he practically cast a shadow. “really? i guess… youre kinda tiny, arent you?”

“i prefer the term ‘vertically challenged,’ thank you very much.” she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Riight.” he said, amused. she made a face at him, pouting. at least that got a half-smile from him. it was better than those crippling sad puppydog eyes. anything was better than that. “so, ugh, where was it you were going to go?” he asked, looking around. trees. bushes. there wasnt much in way of direction. 

“Well, i um.” callie looked back at the path she cut through the brush when she fell. it was.. well, pretty much a strait-up climb. “i came from there.” she said, pointing. 

He looked from the path, back to her. noticing the dirt and grass stains covering her now. “are… you okay?” he asked awkwardly. ah great, the amnesiac was worried for her health. 

“perfectly fine.” she coughed into her hand. “just a bit scratched up.” she amended. “but there's some people probably looking for me now, so we should be fine.” 

“probably looking for you?” he asked. 

“probably,” she repeated. they were looking for her, right? really, who left a stranger to fall off a cliff and not go looking for them? callie hadn't made any long-lasting friendships with them, but she at least counted on their hour and a half travel as something. jeez, people didn't just leave each other to die. they at least had honour, or something, right? she decided yelling back up at them would help. just to be sure. 

“HEY!!! GUYS!!! I'M ALIVE AND NOT DEAD!!! YOU HAVEN'T LEFT ME TO THE WOLVES, RIGHT???” she waited for a few seconds. “CHROM?? LISSA?? FREDERICK????” 

after a few moments, a fait ‘yeah we’re here!’ drifted back to her. they seemed far away, maybe they found a trail leading down to them?? a few moments passed before another ‘don't move, we’re coming to get you!’ made its way down to her. well, at least they hadn't given up. 

“Chrom..?” robin mumbled, lost in thought. “why… does that name seem familiar?” he asked out loud, repeating it over and over again. ‘chrom, chrom, chrom.’ he looked back up at callie, thoroughly confused. 

She shrugged, giving him her best sympathetic look that she could muster. “Maybe you knew him somehow??” she pushed, trying to get him to the right conclusion. “He is the prince of ylisse, so maybe he has some sort of, er, value to you?" as a future best friend? someone you would die for? sacrifice everything for?? maybe even love? Have little exalted children with? 

he shook his head, sighing. “I can't… remember.” damn, there was that defeated look again. she braced herself for sad puppy dog eyes, but they didn't come. Instead, he looked a little bit determined, looking up at the cliff. “its a start, at least.” 

"Yeah, it is." She said in confidence. "Who knows, Chrom could be the key to your memories." 

He looked back at her with a hopeful expression on his face. "You think so?" 

Blinking in rapid succession, callie swallowed nervously and gave him a smile. "Yeah, sure! There could be other memories you still have too, it could all come back in time." She flat-out lied. Damnit, she's a terrible person. But better to give him a little hope than face sad puppy dog eyes again. But... Good lord, his hopeful puppy dog eyes were so much worse on a whole other scale.

She coughed into her hand, looking away from him. She was Not going down That Road. Nope. Not an hour into the game and definitely not when the poor kid didn't have any memories. God, what a terrible thought. She was a terrible person. This was like, the first day of his entire life, and she was thinking about his cute puppy dog eyes. God- she felt like some sort of predator! She basically was! Disgusting, how could she? Literally how could she? Of all the vile, terrible things- 

She shuddered, disgusted with herself. 

"Is everything alright?" Robin said, looking down at her with an inquisitive face. 

She paled, feeling sick. "Yeah..." She looked back up the cliff-face as a small crash echoed down to them both. "You know what, let's just wait for them to come to us. I'm not falling down that again in this lifetime." 

"Ugh, sure?" He said, shrugging. "I have a question though..." 

"Yeah?" Callie responded, this time turning to face him. 

Robin furrowed his brow and looked her strait in the eyes. "Why aren't you wearing any pants...?"

Oh. Oh dear.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out of it. She swallowed, hastily breaking eye contact, before trying again. "I- um." 

God this was awful. Why couldn't this stupid game have short shorts?! Why was bare skin- a lot of bare skin, mind you, be such a weird thing in this game?! Why did she think it was a good idea to own a pair of booty shorts. Because, really, that was what they were. They were booty shorts. There was no getting around the fact that they left very little to the imagination and showed A Lot of skin. Too much skin for her comfort normally, and away too much when faced with a resonantly attractive guy with no memories. This wasn't how she wanted to play the game damnit! This wasn't how she wanted to play life, even! Chrom was easier to deal with, than this guy. Why? Because at least she had other things to worry about and at least Chrom had the decency to be embarrassed even looking her way! God- Robin was just totally unaware that she was freaking out and that her showing a lot of skin was making her uncomfortable- good god man, look away, Avert your eyes! The very first person he ever met, and she was in goddamn booty shorts! How could she? The poor innocent kid- exposed to her Bare Legs. How dare she. How dare-

"Are you okay??" He said, leaning closer to catch her attention. 

She let all the trapped air out of her lungs as she tried to piece back together her thoughts. "I- ugh, yeah. Sorry I was just... Never mind." She said, her face flushing with embarrassment. "I-" she paused for dramatic effect. "Am wearing very short shorts because I was sleeping in them, and because I did not think I would be outside at all. But-" she paused again, raiding her finger. "Circumstance and divine intervention made it possible for me to somehow be here, as I am, today. Bare legged, and embarrassed about that. As a thing. Because I am." 

"Oh." He blinked. "Why are you embarrassed?" 

now it was her turn to be confused. 

"I, ugh." She tilted her head. "It's a lot of skin? And it's not how regular people dress? And... Inappropriate?" She guessed. 

He copied her, tilting his head to the side. "It's inappropriate? What are you supposed to be wearing?" 

Callie opened her mouth, before closing it. Digesting what he just said. it was just so innocent- too innocent. she wouldn't have believed him if he didn't… have amnesia. right. confusion over. 

"I should be wearing something that isn't my pyjamas, for one." She answered, finally. "I could freeze if it was a bit colder out- and being in the woods isn't a good place to go barefoot, I could cut up my feet." She paused. "Even more." 

"Oh." He blinked, soaking up the information. "Um, do you want my coat?" He offered, shrugging his shoulder out of the sleeve. 

"What? Oh, no! It's okay, really!" She flailed, holding her hands up. "That's really nice, but I'm fine! You keep your coat! It's probably important you anyway!" 

He frowned. "I wouldn't really know, I don't remember." 

"Oh. Right." She flinched "Well, maybe it has something important in the pockets? Does it have pockets?" She said, trying to steer the conversation away from the elephant in the room- er, forest. 

"I didn't think of that-" he replied, padding around the outside of his tactician coat. "Where... Would there be pockets..." He muttered, still padding around. 

Callie took a step closer to him and pulled on the dark purple fabric. It was thick and heavy in her hands, but on the inside it was a pretty burgundy colour, soft and nice. "Sorry-" she apologized. "Check inside- there could be something in the breast pocket? Sometimes people keep stuff important there." 

He looked around for a few seconds before his fingers finally caught on something- drawing out a few small papers and a ring. It was silver- nothing special, and he held it up between his fingers with a perplexed look. 

Callie shrugged. "Maybe it was somebody else's?" She snorted before even saying it. "Or maybe you're married." She joked, elbowing his arm. 

He rolled his eyes. "Nah, I think I'm too young for that. Or, at least I feel too young." 

"That's what they all say." She retorted. 

"I don't really know, though." he paused, before frowning, his pale white eyebrows drawing in. "I... Don't know how old I am." 

Callie blinked, goddamnit, it always came back to this. "You... Look my age, if that helps? I'm 15, so, you can't be that far off." 

He raised a snowy white brow. "I thought you were younger, huh" 

"It's because I look like a prepubescent boy." She sighed, crossing her arms. "I get it, I'm a gnome, no need to rub it in." 

At that, he actually laughed. "Noooo! I mean, you're just small, is all! There's nothing wrong with that!" 

"yeah, yeah. whatever you say." She grumbled, before mumbling under her breath. “freaking giraffe-man.” 

"what did you call me??" He questioned, looking down at her accusingly. 

“Nothing!” she flushed, caught. she stepped away from him quickly. 

“really-” he said, taking a stride towards her. it didnt take much to catch up. “because i couldve sworn you called me a-” 

“nope, never heard of one!” she smiled, edging back some more. damn, tall people could be intimidating. “in fact, im pretty sure those don't even exist. what a shame.” her smile broke, and she turned back to the hill where she fell down. “CHROM. LISSA? CAN YOU HURRY IT UP?” 

she heard robin snort behind her, and she almost patted ehrself on the back for distracting him for a few minutes. heavy conversations were not her specialty- at least he seemed a little better. even if it was for the time being. 

\----------------

 

In the most awkward, broken explanation callie had ever come up with, she eventually filled the shepherds in on what happened after her panic-atack and fall. they seemed to be taing it well enough, lissa was nodding along, sending concerned and guilty glances at callie and robin alike- chrom had come around in the end, thankfully he wasn't angry at her for bolting. he was patient, he asked questions here and there. it was a good chat- if frederick hadn’t been present. 

"So he was.... There... When you fell..?" Frederick questioned, leaning closer to a nervous Robin. "Just.... There. Lying around."

"Yes?" Callie squeaked, shrinking down at the Knights pensive stare as he turned on her now. 

"Alright." He said, taking a step back. 

"Alright..?" Callie said, breathing a sigh of relief. 

"Alright, I'm officially naming you both conspirators!" He said, drawing his sword in a flash. "I apologize for my not acting sooner, your highnesses, but this cannot go on any longer!" 

"Frederick!" Lissa exclaimed, walking him with her staff. "You can't be serious!" 

"I am, my lady." Frederick said, gravely. "Your ability to see good in everyone is truly a gift, but I cannot allow these foul miscreants to harm you or your brother. It is against my nature." 

"Oh come on!" Callie exclaimed, looking down the sharp end of his sword. "I swear, he really does have amnesia!" 

"Pegasus dung." Frederick ground out. 

"Isn't that just a fancy way of saying bullshit??" Callie exclaimed, looking to Robin for help, he shrugged. Traitor. 

"Who do you work for??!" Frederick questioned, taking a step closer. 

"Okay, Frederick, you can cut it out now." Sighed the prince, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You're scaring them." 

"Damn right!" Callie said, sending an accusatory glare at the knight. He glared back with as much hostility. 

Chrom looked between them both before rolling his eyes and turning to Robin. "I'm sorry about... Him." He made a face. "I would say he's not usually like this, but, well-" 

"-He is." Lissa cut in. 

Chrom grimaced. "Yeah, well,Frederick the wary has kept us alive for quite a while now." 

"A title I shall wear with honour, milord." Frederick replied, sheathing his sword finally. Callie and Robin both simultaneously relaxed. "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution." He grumbled to himself. 

"I understand, I do." Said Robin, giving Frederick a sympathetic look. "I would be suspicious of us too, but if it's worth anything, callie is completely innocent. She nearly broke my nose when she first found me." 

She whirled on him. "Wait- you remember that?! Why didn't you tell me?!" 

He shrugged. "I thought you knew...?" 

"I- you were-" She clapped hands over her mouth before she said something stupid. He had glowey eyes- what was she supposed to think?!

Chrom's laughing caught her attention, light melodious laugher that was rather unnerving. 

"What??" She demanded, making a face at him. 

"Is this how you meet everyone??" He snickered, "Gods, what is your damage? First me now- " he gestured to Robin. 

"I have no idea." The amnesiac replied, in light of his missing name. 

"Right." Chrom said, cutting out the laughter and turning to his sister. "Lissa, could you check is he has any head injuries-?" 

"Yeah." She replied dryly, taking out her staff. 

"What is... That...?" The tactician said, easing away from the funny glowing crystal inching closer to him. 

"It's a healing crystal- it's not going to hurt you-" she said, grabbing his arm to hold him in place. "Honestly, it's like neither of you have seen magic before." She grumbled. 

"Ugh, well-" Robin started. 

"-we haven't, really." Callie said, eyes fixed to the staff. "Where I come from, healing staffs aren't really... A thing." She paused. "And I can't really say anything for him, but, well. He has no memory at all, so." She held up her hands.

"Where are you from, then? If it's not a place with magic. Rather strange, don't you think, milord?" Asked Frederick, giving her another stare-down. 

"It is." Hummed the prince. "A town without healing magic? There aren't many around ylisse like that with at least some knowledge." 

She gulped. Damn, lying time again. "It's a, er- village, south-east off the continent of Vlam? It's a costal town, you probably wouldn't have heard of it..." 

"Try me." The knight said, narrowing his eyes. Damn, he was really into interrogating her, wasn't he?

"Well, ugh, it's really just in the middle of nowhere, really- somewhat of a grey area in terms of who it belongs to, is it part of Roseanne? Does it belong to to part of the ylisse continent? and does that mean the island belongs to Plegia...." 

The sound of steel met Callie's ears as she quickly realized what she just said. "Really, it's a grey area! Who really cares, it's just one of those backwoods towns, nobody rules! Hell, I barely know anything about Plegia in the first place!" She said nervously taking a step back. 

Frederick was a second away from drawing his sword again. Goddamn it- stupid big mouth- making her look even more suspicious- 

"Peace, Frederick." Soothed Chrom. "We wouldn't want to scare her off again." 

"Right! What he said!" She exclaimed, stepping behind a confused Robin. 

"I don't understand, what's wrong with with a place called Plegia?" The tactician asked. 

"They're a country who we were once at war with." Chrom explained, nudging his deputy to stand down again. "Though the fighting ended quite a few years ago, our relations with them are... Less than substantial." He grimaced. 

"It's because of the exalt that we're at peace now." Lissa said wistfully, leaning on her staff. "Emmeryn works so hard to keep our counties from fighting again, but..." 

"Plegia has a history of favouring war over peace with us, especially because of their religious beliefs differing from our so dramatically." Frederick explained. "They've been sending parties into our territory to cause trouble and damage farmland." 

"It's really gotten out of control, recently." Chrom grimaced. 

"Is that why you're here?" Asked Callie. "Scouting, or something?" 

The prince nodded. "We were on our way to the next town when we ran into you, and well," 

"Things escalated." She finished for him. "I am... So sorry that I'm getting In the way of your duty." She bowed her head respectfully. 

Chrom snorted. "It's no problem, it's our job to look out for people in need, we are the shepherds, after all." 

"Shepherds?" Robin asked, tilting his head. "You tend sheep? In full armour?" 

Lissa grinned. "Yes! And we herd them too!" She spun on her heel and started marching toward the horses. "Now get moving! There's a nice hot bath waiting for me in town, and I refuse to sleep in the woods again!" 

Frederick sighed. "My lady, I would hardly count your nap this morning on your horse, 'sleeping in the woods.'" 

"Well I do!" She snapped, grabbing the reins. "It was horrible! There were far too many bugs... Eugh..." She shuddered. 

"It builds-" 

"Frederick, I swear, if you say that again I will ask Emmeryn to demote you to stall duty for a week." The princess seethed, swinging herself up on her horse. "Now come on, sheep, your shepherd commands you to move out, since none of you are bleeding, there's no need to keep dawdling!" She commanded, holding her staff out in front of her.

Chrom gave the rest of them an amused look before following her, Frederick at his side. 

Callie turned her attention to the amnesiac. "You remember anything yet?" She asked, checking up on him. 

He shook his head. "Nothing, other than the feeling that I should know something about them somehow. It's like I almost know, but I still come up with nothing." He sighed, giving her a halfhearted shrug. "Sorry about all this, I know it's not your problem to deal with." 

Callie made a face. "Don't apologize! Jeez, are you kidding me? You have amnesia, it's not like I'm going to leave you to deal with this alone. I want to help you," she said, as earnest as possible. she really did want to help him. She knew he wouldn't get his memories back, but they really were in the same boat together, the least she could do was give him a little hope and be his friend. "And if you don't get your memories back," she smiled. "I'll help you out. We can study up on ylisse and the rest of the world together, okay?" 

He blinked, before a small smile made its way onto his face. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

Callie nodded and quickly turned her attention away from the tactician. Damn puppy dog eyes. Damn missing memories. Damn oracle getting her into this. Ugh, it didn't help her at all that he was kinda cute. bad callie, bad. 

She was a terrible person, that was for sure. 

Getting to the town was much less dramatic once the group found a path leading to an actual road. As a matter of fact, callie falling down that cliff actually cut their travel time a significant amount, the main road eventually wound its way down to where she fell, and so, all was right in the world. 

After suffering in silence for a few minutes, callie was thrown up onto Lisa's horse instead of walking in bare feet the whole way. The princess didn't seem to mind, and she eagerly kept up conversation as they rode along. Frederick sent her a dirty look or two, but after a while callie learned to ignore them. She listened in on Chrom and robin's idle chatting for a while, but got bored after half an hour of Robin being too polite to ask about chroms life in case they had any sort of history, and Chrom being too polite to ask any further questions about his lack of memories. Really, it got a bit repetitive after a while. 

Robin avoided frederick altogether and eventually gravitated to her the rest of the way, neither of them saying much of anything but more comfortable with the others. It was strange what a few minutes together could do- they were still strangers, but there was a tiny, silent bond of unity- of being an outsider amongst the others- that made it easier to be around eachother. Callie found herself thankful for his company. 

Nearly an hour and a half into their ride, Callie was thoroughly bored with everything, was completely saddle sore, and had gone to counting the seconds until something actually interesting happened. And when it did....

BOOM!!!

It went off with a bang. 

"What was that?!" Lissa cried, pulling back on the reins. 

"The town is right up ahead!" Called Chrom, already pulling on his sword. "Something's happened!" 

"What are we going to do?!" Asked Robin, completely concerned. 

Frederick turned to look at him. "You- you do nothing. If someone is attacking the town, the last thing we need is another civilian to protect- now!" He said, pulling himself up onto his horse. "Lissa, stick with me! If anyone has been injured by the bast, I want you healing them as quick as possible! Chrom, follow on foot, I need your support, but we may need you to aid any civilians from attackers, their lives come first-" 

"What about them?" Asked Chrom, already in battle-mode and pulling things from Lisa's horse. His sister had already slid off and was preparing herself. 

"Unless they're on fire, they can wait! Now let's go!" Called the knight, dragging the princess up and rushing Chrom along. The three were out of sight in seconds, disappearing behind the trees in a rush of gravel and steel. 

\-------

AN: OKAY IM DONE IM CAUGHT UP I CAN STOP HATING MYSELF FOR NOT UPDATING FINALLY. 

And 8 thousand words too, not bad. 

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Hit me up in the ask box and review! I'm only one person after all, if there's something you wanna point out or think could be super rad in this story, feel free to tell me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should probably take the time to point out that i posted these chapters elsewhere but only now just remembered archiveofourown was a thing and that i have stuff here…. my bad...


	4. Attack the town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who thought it as a good idea to let children run on a roof? who's plan was it again? why was it even necessary? who cares it allowed an epic team up and explosions. Worth it. Adrenaline-junkie Callie is best Callie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forever mourning the loss of my clever italic-worldplay…… at least they're there in my dreams...

It's 6 am, I just finished writing the last chapter, I haven't edited it yet (which is going to be a BLAST) but I need to keep my train of thought going so I don't put this off forever like the last chapter, OKAY HERE WE GO- 

\-----

"What about them?" Asked Chrom, already in battle-mode and pulling things from Lisa's horse. His sister had already slid off and was preparing herself. 

"Unless they're on fire, they can wait! Now let's go!" Called the knight, dragging the princess up and rushing Chrom along. The three were out of sight in seconds, disappearing behind the trees in a rush of gravel and steel. 

\----

"So...." Spoke callie, watching them speed off. "What... Now.." 

Robin snapped his attention away from the empty road. "We go and help them! We can't just stand by and let people get hurt!" 

Callie frowned, shifting her weight awkwardly on the horse. The beast huffed, but did to seem to mind the weight change. "We can't follow them- neither of us can defend ourselves! We don't have weapons, and unless you pull out a sword I didn't know about, we're just as easy targets as the villagers." 

"We could still help- what if they need an extra pair of hands- there could be people trapped under rubble, that explosion sounded big." Robin urged, taking a few steps towards the town. 

Callie bit her lip. "I know- but we aren't equipped to deal with this-" she wasn't ready to deal with this. Fighting. Blood. Death. "What if-" 

"I can't let them fight alone!" Argued Robin. "What kind of person would I be, then?" 

"I- I don't know." She answered back. Ah, crap. He had her beat with that augment, the guilt would eat her alive if she said no now. "Fine. Let's just be smart about this though." She grumbled. 

"Then let's go!" He cried, already heading down the road. 

Callie hesitated for a moment, before sliding off Lissa's horse and onto the cold hard gravel. "Hold on a second!" She called out, grabbing onto the horse's reins. 

"What is it?" He answered, backtracking a bit. 

Callie looked around, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I don't know how to ride a horse- do you think we could just tie him up somewhere...?" 

"What-? up over here, there's a path." Robin said, pointing to a small space cutting through a thick blanket of bush. 

"That's perfect-" callie said, squeezing past him. She looped the reins over a branch and stood back a second to take a final look at the horse. Wendigo snorted and chomped greedily at some grass. Ugh, what a little pig. Weren't horse supposed to get spooked easily? Something just blew up, for godssakes, and the dumb animal was already stuffing it's face. 

"Alright- this way!" Hastened the boy. He was already halfway down the road, with his long legs, callie had trouble keeping up and it didn't help that she didn't have any shoes on. 

"Slow down!" She huffed. Damn, she was so not in shape at all. "we need to stick together!" 

When she finally caught up to him in the middle of the town gates, she nearly tripped over her own feet. 

People were running from the town, putting out fires, scrambling to get away from collapsing houses or runaway animals-

“Over there!” robin called, as both of them caught a glimpse of he shepherds heading into the market. “come on, we can catch them-!” 

“Gotcha!” said a deep voice as a hand slammed down on callie’s shoulder with an iron-tight grip. 

“hey-!” she choked out, thrown suddenly to a stop. she looked back into the eyes of… probably the freakiest looking guy in her life. he was wearing fur bracers, freaking red war paint, and an entire cow skull on his head. Callie wasn't quick to judge, but he looked like one hell of a bad guy. “geT THE HELL AW-”

the scary brigand man pulled her closer and put his giant hand over her mouth, leaning closer to her hear. “now now,” he soothed, holding onto her tightly. she could feel his hot breath against her neck. “Whats a girl like you, doing in a place like this?” he tilted his head to the side, “wearing something like that?”

Jesus christmas those booty shorts were literally going to kill her. Callie bit down on his hand, hard enough so that he ripped it away and she could talk again. “none of your freaking business-” 

the guy squeezed harder onto her shoulders until it hurt. “you really shouldn't have done that-!” he growled, reaching for his sword- 

WHAM!!

Robin brought down a massive stone over his head, and watched as the cow skull on the brigand cracked and fell to pieces on the ground, followed by the man himself. 

...dragging callie along with him. “Robin-!” she screeched as several hundred pounds of muscle and fur crushed her- “nice freaking plan-!” she struggled, pushing a giant arm off her. “Can you at least help me out and stop standing there???” she ground out before looking back up at him. “what?”

“You called me Robin.” he said blankly, blinking in confusion. “I… that's my name.” He breathed. "That's my name." He said again with certainty.

Ah shit. he didn't remember his name. this whole time, he didn't remember, and she just handed it to him, which, sure, was sort of good and a step in the right direction, but oh man, she was not supposed to be the one to know his name. Oh man, oh maan, she messed up. Crap.

“Callie?” Robin asked, reaching down to give her a hand up. The brigand groaned and twitched on the ground. At least he hadn't killed him, jeez. 

“I- um.” Callie sat on the ground looking between him and his outstretched hand. “You're not just gunna… unhear that, are you?” 

“No, I'm not.” he said, studying her. 

She bit her lip. “and… you're beyond believing i just… yell out the first name i can think of??” she asked hopefully. 

He crossed his arms. “nope.” he frowned. “I want to know how you know my name, and i don't want you to lie to me again.”

Callie was taken back a bit. “what makes you think i would lie to you??” 

robin gave her a hurt look. “you told me back in the clearing that you never met me before- you said-” 

The brigand groaned and moved a giant arm to get up. Both of them shot him a glare. 

“We don't have time for this.” Callie grumbled, pulling herself to her feet. She looked between Robin at the guy on the ground. “We need to find something and tie him up.” 

“I'll find something.” robin muttered, turning his back on her and rummaging through dropped luggage. “We arent done here though-” 

“Yeah.” She sighed, putting her bare foot on the guys back to keep him down. He moaned as his head hit the pavement again. “So much for a silent bond of unity.” she muttered under her breath. 

“This should be thick enough.” The tactician said, pulling a long rope off an abandoned cart. He started looping it around the guy’s wrists. “You get his ankles.” 

Callie pulled his sword off him, along with a dagger and some weird looking flasks. “Take these, you’re gonna need them.” 

“What about you?” he argued, pushing the weapons back. 

Callie grimaced. “knives and sharp stuff really aren't my thing.” she pushed the sword back at him. “i'd really rather run than anything.”

 

He looked at her for a second before he handed her back the dagger. “better than nothing.” he said evenly. “And if you get killed, i won't get my explanation.” 

“Gee, thanks.” She said dryly, taking it. “You shouldn't have.” 

Robin looked back to the marketplace- a wall had collapsed while they hadn't been looking, and they could barely see top of Frederick’s head as he battled off the attacking brigands. 

“We’ll have to go another way.” he said, helping her up this time.

“What about him?” she asked, poking him with her bare toe. “leave him?” 

Robin shrugged. “Either his friends will come back and get him, the villagers will find him.” he looked down at the concussed thug. “its out of our hands now, unless you want to carry him.” 

“Youre joking, right?” she asked wryly. “he’s massive.” 

“Better leave him to his fate, then.” the boy replied, already starting to walk away from her. 

Callie looked between the man who attacked her, and the tactician walking away. She sighed and ran to catch up.

“I’m sorry i lied.” She said finally, playing with the hem of her nightgown. It had gone from a pale peach to a muddy brown. “I didn't want you to get freaked out.” she confessed. 

 

He looked at her like she had gone crazy. “why would i get freaked out at my own name?? how do you even know it?” he stopped and took a step closer to her, looming above her tiny frame. “Please, tell me.” 

She chewed her lip. Oh man, now she would really have to lie. No way could she tell him that he's a fictional character and everything around them isn't real. oh man, oh man. she had been playing for half a day and already screwed up royally. Where was the oracle? Weren't they supposed to give them help? guidance? anything?? damn. winging it again. 

“Would you believe me… if i said i saw you in a dream once?” she said slowly. it was the closest thing to the truth she could give him. “or, well, maybe not a dream, but more like… a, um..” 

“a vision?” Robin blinked. 

“yes?” Callie replied, taking a step back. “ I got your name from, um, that.” 

“Oh.” he said, stepping away himself. he looked rather… shocked, really. Like he had seen a ghost. “What else did you see?” he asked quickly, turning back to her. 

Callie blinked. “Oh um. Rubble? Rocks? ugh… it was kinda hazy…? i don't remember it all, but your name just kinda, came to me. just then.” man, what a big fat liar she was. 

“huh.” he said dazedly, staring off. 

“you can't tell anyone-” Callie quickly said, grabbing his arm. “normal people don't have visions- if the wrong sort of guys find out, bad things could happen.” she purposely phrased her sentence so that it applied to his own as well. dammit, if she was going down, she might as well give him some advice not to go telling the world about his own visions. 

ugh, visions. this was already getting way too screwed up. 

Robin finally nodded and they started looking for a way to get into the marketplace. Almost all the ways were blocked off- and they eventually had to go through someone's house just to get away from some passing thugs. Callie quickly stopped in her tracks as she spotted a pair of shoes. 

“what are you-?” Robins asked, watching her as she scurried over to them. “seriously?”

“I've been walking on crushed glass and rocks for hours-” she whined, pulling them on. They were little brown slip-on shoes, but they felt like heaven after all her walking barefoot. “what's a little thievery among friends??” She grinned. The tactician didn't look amused. “I’ll pay them back??” she asked hopefully. 

“With what money?” he raised a white brow. 

Callie pursed her lips. “We’re saving their town??” the boy shook his head at her. “robinnnnn, come onnn, pleaseee??” 

He made a little smile and looked away. “fine.” he caved, and Callie started cheering at her little victory. “but only because you said my name.” 

“Say what now?” she asked curiously, scurrying up to him. 

He scratched his chin and didn't meet her eyes. “After having no memories and getting all the way here without it... Having someone say my name..." He trailed off, still not looking at her. 

"is...?" Callie prodded. She kinda wanted him to finish his thought. 

He looked down at her and turned a little pink. "Having someone say my name makes this feel real and it's really nice." He turned away, looking incredibly embarrassed. 

And it was goddamn adorable.

"Ohh my gosh." She swiftly turned and looked at the the ground- a wall, anything other than the embarrassed tactician. A few awkward seconds passed before she cleared her throat. "Hm. Town. We should-" 

"-yeah." Robin said, darting to the door. He held it open for her as she followed him out. 

"Thanks." She managed out, before stopping in her tracks. 

God, this was not how she wanted to play his game. Awkwardness be damned.

"Hey, Robin?" She asked, getting his attention. He turned around rather quickly at his name being called. 

"Yeah?" He asked, pursing his lips. 

"I like your name," She gave him a sheepish smile. "come on, let's go save the town you dork." 

"Wha-" he opened his mouth to protest but she skipped ahead of him and onto the road. "-hey!" 

\----

As Callie ducked into an alleyway with Robin, the voice of the oracle rattled against her brain once more, eager to give her more helpful information. 

"You are so incredibly screwed." They buzzed, setting her teeth on edge. "I leave you alone for two hours and now you've doomed yourself." 

Callie looked between Robin and the brigands in the street- quiet. She needed to stay quiet.

"I mean, yeah, there's nothing against making friends so early, but oh my gosh." They made a dramatic sigh. "They never listen, do they? It's all 'oh, Robby dearest, I love your cute name and your cute face~' and then you die and i have to do this all over again." 

Callie stamped her foot in protest. Robin gave her a questioning look. 

"You what romance does? It kills you. Let me give you a few rules from here on out, okay? Okay." They sucked in a deep breath. "Rule number one: absolutely, no, and I mean no- cutesy flirting, crushing, kissing, love, romance of any kind, OR marriage. You get me? I'm telling you now before you die a horrible death." 

Callie but her tongue. 

"And I also mean what romance and marriage entails, right? No baby-making. I get it, kids these days just wanna have fun, but oh my gosh, no. That's it. No sex. I don't care how old you are kid, if you had a sexlife, kiss it goodbye right now because if you wanna live, you gotta do without the do." 

Callie slapped both of her hands over her mouth to muffle a scream. 

"Any and all formes of sex are banned for life. No naked twister, no hokey pokey, if you have sex, you will die. Like, forever. Don't even ask me if there's any loopholes, because I swear to god, this game will find you, give you a future baby, and then kill you. No sex." 

Callie had to blink away tears as she bit down on her hand. She was screaming on the inside-  
boody bloody hell she was screaming on the inside.

"Second rule! Always listen to, and refer to the mighty oracle. Information spreading is my job, and it sucks, but, for the sake of young innocents, I do it anyway. Consider me a superhero, really. I'm your neighbourhood Spider-Man. Your Bruce Wayne." 

"Except when you're not." Callie hissed as quietly as possible when Robin's attention was drawn away. "Where were you when I had to lie my way out of being skewered by Frederick? Or when I accidentally named Robin? What about-" 

"Okay, you know, what, we can just skip over those parts. You wanted me gone, and I went. Takes awhile to come back, no biggie. And about you being a terrible terrible guilty liar-" 

"What about it?" She whispered. 

"You've been here half a day and even I already know you won't be able to keep up that vision lie." They snarked. 

"So?" She said quietly. "Are you going to help me or ridicule me?" 

"Ask and ye shall receive." They said smoothly. "I've decided to let you have your own little vision." 

"What." Callie said at a normal volume. 

Robin looked over at her. "What?" 

"What?" The oracle mimicked. 

Callie slapped her forehead. "Never mind." She whispered to the tactician. "Just watch the road." 

"The future is a very tricky business, kiddo, fortunately for you, the future is already written, and I am good at what I do." 

Callie's brows drew together. She didn't actually want a vision, for god's sakes. That was weird and freaky and so not up her alley. "Please, no-" she started, before Robin signalled for her to start moving again. 

"Tough luck, buttercup. No takesies-backsies. I'm doing this for you, because you suck at lying. Don't even ask me if I've followed up on your other lies and created an entire island of backwater villages southeast of Vlam, because I didn't." They paused. "if anyone asks, say you're from Elincia." 

"What." Callie whispered as she followed Robin across the road. "Did you just-" 

"Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about." The oracle replied. "It totally exists and totally was there prior to your awful lying." 

Callie had to hold onto something to keep herself form falling over. They just freaking created life. What the hell was this?

"Nope, none of that, no freaking out." They chastised her. "Rule number three, no freak outs." 

"You can hardly expect me to follow those dumb rules-" she grimaced. "Maybe except for the sex thing. Not happening." 

The oracle sighed. "Oh thank god."

Callie ducked behind a wagon as another group of brigands passed by. She made a face at Robin as if to say 'go get them.'

 

He shook his head at her. 'No way.'

 

She squinted at him and motioned with her hands. 'Why not?'

 

He gestured to the sword at his side and shook his head, shrugging. 'I don't know how to fight, are you kidding me?' 

Callie out her hand over her eyes. 'We're doomed.'

She looked back up at the tactician in time to see him pick up a stone, and point to the entrance of the market. 

"Oh hell no-" she hissed, before he threw the stone above the mercenaries heads, and down another alleyway, catching their attention. And what blew her away was that they fell for it- 

"Come on!" Robin urged, grabbing her arm and practically carrying her into the market. And the sight they were greeted with made Callie wish she didn't even move from her spot. 

Freaking everything was on fire or had arrows in it. Great. 

Market stalls were trashed, flagstones where broken and upturned, the storefronts were either burnt or completely abandoned. Scorch marks covered the buildings- strange and still smouldering, despite having no source or fuel to keep it going. Callie made a point to tiptoe around one of them- her shoes just skirting past still burning coals, the hair on the back of her arms stood up. This was not regular fire. 

Callie kept close to Robin, whispering to him as quiet as possible. "Do you see them anywh-"

Clang!

The count of metal on metal echoed around the square, and Callie only just saw the blue of Frederick's armour disappear around a corner before he vanished once again. 

"Over there, come one!" Robin urged. They darted after him as fast as they could, just in time to see Chrom bash the base of his sword against a thug's head. The man crumpled to the ground in seconds. 

"You followed after us?" Exclaimed the knight, taken back. His horse stamped its hooves on the hard stone. 

"We had to come." Robin quickly explained. "It wouldn't have been right not to help." 

"You can't fight though," Chrom shot back, as he quickly bound the unconscious brigand. "You'd just be putting yourself in danger." 

Callie blinked, and suddenly noticed the absence of a particular blonde princess. "Where's Lissa??" 

"Over here!" She called, swinging open the door to one of the buildings. "Is anyone hurt? I can heal you." She pulled out her staff, powering up the little crystal perched on top. "The villagers inside are fine now- we can probably move on now." She explained, gesturing to the small group of peasants huddled inside. They looked warily back at them all, bandaged head to toe. 

"They couldn't make it out in time?" Callie asked. Most of them were young, children like herself. 

Chrom shook his head. "They were barricaded in after the blast. Most of the exits were destroyed." He looked at her and Robin particularly. "Which begs the question, how did the both of you get in?" 

"Well," Callie gave them a sarcastic look. "You could say we're masters at espionage."

"Really." Frederick said, unimpressed. 

"Yup." Callie said, nodding to herself. "We were so sneaky, nobody even saw us get past them." 

"That's them, over there!!" A voice called, drawing the party's attention. A group of thugs bolted across the market with fire in their eyes, pulling their weapons free. "I recognize the short one!" A man cried who- ah crap it was that guy from earlier. Creepy cow skull guy. Goddamnit. 

Robin was already pulling her back towards the open shop door. Chrom and frederick jumped back to take on the party in more open ground- farther away from the rest of them.

"I'm not that short!" Callie hissed at them as she was thrown into the shop. She made eye contact with the creepy thug and flipped him off right before Robin slammed the door shut and a villager pushed a vanity table over, sealing them inside. 

They were suddenly surrounded by darkness, and several slightly upset villagers. 

"I can't believe I actually did that." Callie breathed. "That was-" 

"-Reckless." Robin glowered, glaring down at her in the low light.

"-totally awesome!" She gushed, ignoring him. "I never got to do stuff like that back home! Oh, man!" Flipping off attackers and getting the last word as she made epic escapes- this was the kind of stuff people in movies did! Oh man, oh man, that was so cool. She wished she could have seen the look on his dumb face. Serves him right, the bastard-

"We need to get out of here." Robin said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "That door won't hold forever, and the villagers safety comes first." 

"The front is blocked too- the only way is the roof." Lissa said, lighting her staff up so they could see properly. Several frightened young faces looked at the three of them questioningly, before an older man spoke. 

"We won't all be able to make it," he said gravely, adjusting the weight on his crutch. Callie noticed the thick bandages around his ankles. "The rooftops won't hold us all, and injuries aside, we would be easy targets to the mages up top." 

"On the rooftops??" Callie exclaimed. That was cheaty. No way they could get to them from the ground. Whoever these bad guys were, they totally weren't playing fair. "How many??"

"Two or three of them." The older man said. "I'm afraid we have no other choice than to stay here." 

The three of them were quiet as they digested the weight of his words. 

"We could send out a diversion." Robin said finally, breaking the heavy silence. "Somebody could go up top and draw the attention from the men outside." 

"It's be suicide!" Lissa exclaimed, putting her hands into fists. "No way I could let that happen!" 

"Theres no other way," Robin defended, taking a step back from the angry princess. "We can't wait for Chrom and frederick to come back- they already have their hands tied." 

"Nope, I'm not allowing it." She growled at him. "There's nothing you could say to change my mind-" 

The sound of someone slamming themselves a giant the door made everyone in the room jump- somebody cussed loudly and another loud crash followed after. They'd be caught if they didn't do something- assaulted, attacked- Callie really didn't want to entertain the thought that she might get killed here. 

"Lissa, we don't have time-" Robin hissed, edging away from the door. The vanity shuddered as another blow was dealt. "Just let me-" 

"I'll do it." Callie breathed, looking at the two of them. "They know who I am, I'm smaller, harder to hit from far away." Her voice faltered at the end- did she really just say that? Did she really just volunteer herself for a suicide mission?? 

Oh lord, she was still riding the high from earlier. Was she turning into some sort of adrenaline junkie? 

"No." Lissa afraid out refused, crossing her arms. "No way."

Robin took a step towards her. "Callie I can't let you-" 

Wham! 

The door broke off its hinges and the thugs started whaling on the vanity blocking their path- everyone in the room flew to push their weight against it besides Callie, who hung back and watched them struggle. 

"I can do this." She lied. "I'll be quick- where are the stairs?" She asked, looking around the dark room.

"Round the table to the left-" the older villager bit out as someone banged against their makeshift barricade. "Climb through the window onto the roof-" 

"Callie do not-!" Lissa growled, putting all her weight against the vanity. 

"Thanks-" she quickly said, sparing them one last look. 

"Wait-" the old man pulled his bag off of him, chucking it to her before going back to the wall as a small hole was made by a brigands axe. The man flinched- his head inches away from where the blade had been. "There's a tome inside- if you can't use it, I'd recommend you learn quickly." 

"Magic?" Callie paled, picking up the satchel. "I- um." 

"Go!" He urged, not looking back. Callie's feet carried her quickly back, as she caught a last glimpse of Robin and Lissa staring back at her. 

"I can do this." She said to herself again, pulling herself up the stairs. The floorboards creaked under her feet but she paid the sound no mind- she had to be fast. She had to be brave. She- 

Had to actually start breathing again if she wanted to get to the roof alive. 

"Oh god what have I done-" She wheezed, getting the top at last. 

"Ten minutes and you've already broken rule three." The oracle sighed, their disembodied voice floating in the back of her head. 

"And what's rule three?" Callie absentmindedly asked as she edged towards the window. Her hands shook as she reached out to open it. 

"No freaking out." They buzzed. 

"Well sorry." She snarked back at them, "I have a good freaking reason to be, like all the other times before-" 

"-yeah, yeah. Worst day of your life, I get it." They interrupted. "Look, if you were so keen on killing yourself and ending your session you should've told me. Suicide mission? Are you serious?!" 

Callie bit down on her tongue as ther voice rang louder in her head. "Just shut up and let me do this- I don't want to die." 

"Then why not let Robin run on the rooftops? Or Lissa? Hell, I bet one of those orphans downstairs would've done it for kicks just like you! Only difference is they don't have the fate of the world riding on them, dumbass." They seethed. 

"That's really comforting." She shot back as she pulled herself out of the window. "Thank you so much for being the wise and thoughtful guide I needed. I'm sure dying here will be much easier now that you've given me such a touching goodbye speech-" 

"Save your breath freckles, I'm hardly finished-" 

"-Yeah, well, I am." She ground out, pulling herself to her feet on the rooftop. "Shut up and stew while I go get my ass kicked." She grumbled, darting past other windows. "It won't take long." 

"Well maybe you wouldn't get your ass kicked if you actually used that bunch of paper at your side." The oracle said bitterly. 

"I can't use magic." Callie scoffed, reaching the edge of the roof. Below her, she could hear the brigands throw themselves at the barricade. 

"Have you even tried." They didn't even bother to phrase it as a question. 

Oh. 

Huh. 

Callie pulled out the book. The cover was made out of thick bound leather and dyed a deep red. Fire magic? Callie repressed a shudder. No way, she was not going to even try it. Magic was unnatural and weird. "Nope, not happening."

"Oh for god's sakes." Huffed the oracle. "Use it idiot-!"

Callie shook her head. "I'm not doing it." She said stubbornly.

"Well, you better think of something." They said quickly. "Because someone to your left just sent a gust of wind at you." 

Callie screeched and ducked her head just as a blast of wind went above her- she turned her terrified gaze towards a Mage on another building- glaring at her. 

"What the hell is your problem?!" She screeched at them as another blast of cold wind went her way. 

"His problem is, he want to murder your face." The oracle continued as she ducked and rolled away. "Shoot some fire at him- do something instead of run!"

"I'm not using magic, I already told you!!" She cried as a bolt of lightning just barely missed her shoulder- another Mage dressed in red raise his tome in the air, electricity curling around his fingertips as he prepared another spell. 

"Are you freaking serious?!" the oracle screeche. Callie blinked back tears as she tried to focus their voice was so goddamn loud. "Fight back!!" 

"No!" She yelled back. "I can't! I'm not going to- argh!" she said, as he foot slipped from its place on the roof tile, and she started rolling off the side of the roof-

"Unreal-" the oracle bit out, as her legs slipped off the edge and the both of her arms clutched onto smooth tile. "Oh my god-"

She could hear Robin and Lissa call out her name below her as she eagled off the side. She had failed. The brigands had gotten in. They were dragging the villagers into the streets- she was going to die for nothing.

Callie sobbed as a bolt of lightening hit right above her head, her grip slipping even more. "Help-" she cried. "Please- I don't want to die-" 

"Then you should've listen to me in the first place!" The oracle retorted. 

"I'm sorry!!" She choked, slipping farther down. Her legs were already dangling off the side of the building. 

"Apology accepted." The oracle said warmly. 

And suddenly, her legs were moving by themselves- filled with a brilliant heat and energy unlike her own- making her kick off against the bulding wall and telling her arms to pull herself up-

She rolled onto the roof and danced away just in time as two different spells missed their targets. Her hands moved by themselves and whipped out the red spell book from her back, she felt an energy in her chest bubble up and concentrate underneath her her fingertips-

"Oh no, what are you doing-" she choked out, right before the spell burst from her hands and flew towards the first Mage- exploding in a giant display of fire and energy like a bomb going off-

"Whoops." The oracle said as Callie watched the Mage dive off the building just in time to miss getting incinerated. "Must've used a bit too much energy." 

"Is he okay? Is he dead??" She asked quickly, watching the man after he fell two stories to the ground. A second later he weakly pulled himself out of the rubble before passing out entirely. Callie breathed a sigh of relief. 

A stronger bolt of lightening zoomed past Callie's head as the oracle moved her just in time for her to dodge it. 

"You missed." The oracle made her say as another spell powered up in her hands. This was so wrong- Callie had no control over anything anymore-

The overpowered fire spell missed as the Mage took a flying leap onto her own rooftop- he glared her down as the two of them stood, books in hand. He raised his palm and a bright electrified charge shot out at her leg- 

-and Callie's spell lit up the whole other side of the building where the mage was standing- sending the man flying and Callie onto her knees by the shockwave-

"See what you're missing out?!" The oracle laughed as fire rained down from the skies- setting the tiles on fire and landing far below them. She could hear the thugs down below shout in alarm- she had gotten their attention, good. "Just think how powerful you could be if you trained yourself!" The oracle exclaimed, lost in the beauty of the blast.

Crack-

The sound went off under her feet. 

Callie looked at the broken smouldering tiled. "What was-" 

And then the entire roof collapsed under her- pulling her feet out from underneath her and sending her down, down down into splintered old wood-

This building obviously hadn't been built with explosions in mind. 

Callie blacked out for a second as she hit the ground- her hands and arms catching her as she landed- she had fallen through two flights of stairs and so much tile and wood, she didn't even know where she was anymore- she couldn't see anything but thick, chalky dust when she opened her eyes. It coated her hair, her face- she clutched her stomach as the wind got knocked out of her- she sucked in more duct and choked on it- struggling for fresh air- something, anything- just someone please help her-

Someone ended up pulling her out of the rubble finally- her arms burnt as they gripped underneath her armpits, dragging her up like a lifeless doll. Her lead rolled to the side and she struggled to finally see the destruction around her. 

Someone laid her down on the cold hard ground, her cheek felt nice and cool against the flagstones as her head lolled to the side. She smiled deliriously as everything continued to spin. Round and round and round- 

"Is she going to be okay? Lissa??" 

"M'fine." Callie slurred, brushing away whosoever's hand was hovering around her head. She opened her eyes finally and dazily looked up at a bright yellow blob. 

"Callie? Can you hear me?" A female voice asked. 

She rolled her head in a circle and felt pretty proud of herself. 

"Is that a yes, or a no?" She asked, rather concerned.

She snorted at her expression. The four of them were so funny looking. All spinning around in a circle. "You're funny, princess~"

"Do you think she has head trauma?" Asked a male voice. The owner stooped over her, their bright white hair almost as bright as the clouds. How nice. Callie wished she had cloud hair. 

"Head truma-" Callie said, trying to pull herself up, only to have two sets of hands hold her down. "I'm getting some déjà vu here-" 

"Stay down-" Lissa chided, pulling out her staff. "This isn't going to hurt you, okay? So stay calm." 

"Calm?" Callie snorted. "I'm allllllwaaaaays calm." 

"Riiiight." the princess said dryly. Her glowy orb was suddenly all up in Callie's face, and she squirmed away from its bright light. 

"It's gross." Callie aid, making a face.

"Gross??" Lissa said, offended. "My magic isn't gross." 

"Mmmhmm." Callie nodded on the ground. "Robin agrees, right Robbie?" 

"Robin?" Lissa asked, unaware of the tactician's newfound name.

"Robby." The tactician grimaced. "How about... No... To that nickname." 

"S'the fall." Callie explained. "Everything's a lot more... Spinney." 

Robin looked at the princess. "Yeah, she has head trauma." 

The blonde fiddled with the crystal on her healing staff. "I can probably fix it- if it's a concussion itll be easy, if it's something worse-" 

"Then she'll deal with it." Growled a big... Angry looking blob that came sauntering up in their direction. Callie had to squint and put her hand onto her head just to make out his face. Big and.. Ugly looking. Was he the guy she flipped off earlier? They kinda had the same look. Red fur coat, big nose.... Giant rosy face... Big bushy beard.... 

"Are you Santa claus?" Callie asked, looking up at him. 

He knocked Robin back with a rough puch to the jaw, and the boy went skidding back. "No." 

"Oh, okay." Callie replied, pulling herself up into a sitting position. "I'm Jewish, so that would've been weird." 

"What..." The thug said looking at her, before shaking his head and getting back to whatever point he had in the first place. "You-" he grabbed Lissa's arm. 

"H-hey!" Exclaimed the blonde, trying to pull out of his vice grip. 

"You re going to heal the others now or else your friends and the villagers are going to get it." The man growled in her ear, making her cringe back.

"Get what?" Callie chirped, watching the two of them. 

"It." The brigand answered, holding onto the cowering princess. 

Callie tiled her head to the side. "What is it though?" 

The thug looked at her like she was the dumbest person in the world. "My sword." He explained simply. 

"Oh." Callie said. "Like a present?" Maybe he really was Santa Claus. Wouldn't that be something?

"Something like that." He said, pulling the girl along to the men passed out on the ground. The rubble had fallen on them- the villagers pushing them back as the building fell. The brigand pushed the tiny girl towards his ally's, turning his back on a very confused Callie. "Fix them." He ordered, pulling his sword from his hip, and pointing it next to her face. "Now." He growled. 

"P-please-" Lissa stuttered, pulling her staff to her chest. "Don't hurt t-the villagers-"

His giant boot connected with her back, sending her to her knees. "I said do it now, girl!" He roared, holding tighter onto his sword. 

"I- they need to be awake!" She cried, ducking her head lower. "It won't work if they-" 

"Useless!" He growled, raising his sword arm. "I'll-" 

WhAM!!

The thug fell like a sack of potatoes. 

"Merry Christmas, you jerk." Callie frowned, holding a hard plank of wood in her hands.

Lissa's jaw dropped. 

"Upsy Daisy princess," the brunette said, pulling her up to her feet. 

"What...?" Lissa breathed, looking down at the groaning giant. "How...?" 

"Do you have baseball here?" Callie asked blearily. "It's like, a game where you hit things with a stick really hard. I'm like. Good at that back home." She explained, trying to stay on her feet.

"I'll say." Robin said, pulling himself up off the ground. The side of his face was already turning purple. "Nice swing." He said, giving callie a smile. 

She shrugged. "I do what I can." She said smoothly. she loved acting so cool. Hero of the day, Callie Brookes. Hell yes. 

Frederick and Chrom rounded the corner a few minutes later- the villagers who had fled had regrouped and fought back most of the remaining brigands, they explained, the ones the shepherds defeated were bound and caught, along with the ones littering the streets taken by surprise by the building. She felt a strange feeling of accomplishment knowing that she helped beat up a group of full grown men. Somehow it just felt... Right. Like the universe just wanted a fifteen year old girl to fight crime. Yes. This was exactly her purpose in life. 

She... Was still feeling the effects of falling through two floors evidently. 

"Whoa, easy there." Chrom said as she nearly walked right into him. She fell like a rag doll the moment he supported her arm. "Are you okay??" He asked, he looked up at Robin for an answer. "Is she okay?? Should she be walking??" 

"Probably not." The tactician said as he took her other arm. Callie's feet barely touched the ground and her head lolled to the side again. 

"Here, let me." Lissa said, pushing away Robin and letting the brunette's head rest against her shoulder. "You're too tall." She said wryly, looking up at the teen. He rolled his eyes at her. 

"Thank you so much for rescuing our town, shepherds!" A man said as a collection of villagers surrounded them all. "If it wasn't for your company, Southtown would have been lost!" He bowed his head in respect, along with the rest of the other townsfolk. 

"We were doing our duty." Chrom said modestly. 

"May the gods bless you-" the man cried, bowing deeper. "And let us celebrate your victory this night-!" He exclaimed. "Stay and break bread with us milord, we shall toast to your honour!!" 

The prince smiled. "That's very kind of you-" 

"-A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand... But I'm afraid we must hurry back to Ylisstol." Frederick cut in, giving the price a quick look. 

"Of course." The old man replied. "At the very least, allow us to give you fresh food, water, and clothing if you need it. The trip back is rather treacherous." 

"My thanks, friend." The knight bowed, accepting his offer. 

When the crowd dispersed, and it was just the five of them once more, Lissa was the first to speak up. "Why do we have to sleep in the forest again." She whined, keeping a food grip on the brunette at her side. "I'm tired of roughing it in the woods, I have plenty of character already." 

"The journey is not long." Frederick replied stoically, returning his things to his horse. 

"It's nearly dark-" she cried. 

"When night falls, we'll make camp. Eat off the land, make our bed of twigs and the like." He said, smiling to himself. 

Lissa wilted. "Frederick, sometimes I hate you." She muttered, holding onto Callie. 

"You have quite the stern lieutenant there." Robin said, looking at the prince. 

The princess made a face at fredericks back. "Yeah, well, "stern" is one name for it. I can think of a few others." 

"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe." Chrom teased. 

"Duly noted." Robin said, edging away from the knight.

"So, ugh..." Chrom looked between Robin and a mildly unconscious callie, barely holding herself upright. "Is she going to be alright?" 

"M' Perfectly fine. " Callie mumbled into Lissa's shoulder. "I just tripped a bit." 

Robin snorted. "Yeah, after blowing up the building." 

"That was you?" Frederick asked warily. "I thought you didn't know any magic." 

Callie stiffened against Lissa's arm. "Well I ugh..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm good under pressure?" 

Frederick looked at her blankly. 

"Yeah, even I don't believe you." Robin shrugged. 

"I...Crap." Callie swallowed hard. "I don't know, I was on the roof with a book-" 

"This one?" Chrom said, picking it up out of her bag. It somehow survived the fall. Huh. 

Frederick plucked it out of his hands. "Where did you get a fire tome?" 

"An old man... gave it to me?" Callie cringed. 

"Right, okay." Frederick said, looking at the prince. He put his hand on his sword. 

"Oh come on!" Callie exclaimed. "I helped! I'm not evil, I swear!" 

"I mean, you did steal those shoes." Robin joked. 

"You aren't helping, Robin!" 

"Oh, so the amnesiac suddenly has a name?" The knight said, taking a step towards them both. "How convenient." 

The tactician put up his hands and scooted behind callie and Lissa. "Okay, well-" 

"Frederick, cut it out." Lissa huffed, standing her ground. "Threatening them isn't going to do anything, they followed after us and helped." 

The knight crossed his arms. "They put themselves in danger- princesses, I understand your concern, but we don't know these people." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Callie particularly. "And they haven't been very forthcoming about themselves either." 

"They helped save lives- Callie even saved mine, just a little while ago-" She glared up at her brothers lieutenant. "Doesn't that count as anything?" 

Frederick dropped his arms. "Princess-" 

"No, she's right." Chrom said finally, stepping towards them. "They've proven themselves to be trustworthy." He shrugged, looking at callie. "Despite their shady pasts." 

"I'm not shady!" She exclaimed. "I'm just- this place is really weird, okay? I'm not used to this-" she gestured around with her free arm. "-weird, fighting stuff." 

"So you're a tourist?" Asked Frederick. 

Callie frowned. "Yeah, I guess." 

"Are you going to tell us from where? Or should I actually start interrogating you?" The knight put his hands on his hips, staring her down. 

Callie shrunk into Lissa's side. "Im from... Elincia...?" She lied, watching his reaction. 

His eyebrows shot up. "Elincia?" He blinked, looking at her in a new light. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" 

"I have no idea." She muttered. 

"I don't understand, what's Elincia?" Robin asked, looking between them for an explanation. 

Chrom answered first. "It's a kingdom off the coast of the Pelagian-Vlam sea." He looked at Callie. "They're old allies of us- why you worried about your nationality if you're from Elincia?" 

"I, ugh-" Callie blinked at him. "I don't know? I wasn't um, expecting to end up here in the first place." 

"It is rather unusual," Fredrick said nonchalantly. "To wind up in another country across the ocean..." 

Lissa growled at him. "Quit it-" 

"I surrender, princess." The knight said, backing off. "I will trust your judgement, if what you said about miss Callie rings true." 

"She really did save my life! She exclaimed. "It was amazing- the guy was huge and he had his sword up-" 

Frederick and Chrom narrowed their eyes. 

"Lissa-" Chrom said, taking a step closer to her. "Tell me you didn't let them hurt you-" 

"No, no!" She held up the free hand that wasn't holding callie up. "It didn't get that far, really." She lied. "He turned his back on callie and she swung a plank of wood at his head, it was fantastic!" She gushed. 

Callie averted both shepherds eyes. "I ugh." She counted. "It was pretty cool." 

"And where were you?" Frederick asked, turning to Robin. 

The tactician opened his mouth, but Lissa beat him to it. "He tried taking that guy on first, but he was massive- Robin was so brave though~" 

Callie rolled her eyes. Sure, maybe Robin helped a bit. "I was pretty brave too..." She muttered to herself. 

"Really?" Chrom asked approvingly. "Brave enough to consider being a shepherd?" 

Callie went white as a sheet. "I- oh man-" 

Frederick stiffened. "Sir, you cannot-" 

"Peace frederick," Chrom replied, holding up his hand. "They're capable- why not offer them a place amongst us?" 

"We don't know them milord," the knight huffed. "Their loyalties may very well lie elsewhere- miss Callie isn't even from ylisse." He squinted unapprovingly at robin. "And the other one's origin are... Even more a mystery." He said sarcastically. Callie looked at Robin's tactician cloak. Right, Pelagia colours. It was pretty obvious. 

Chrom shrugged. "The offer still stands." He turned towards them both. "The both of you are welcome to join us and travel back to the capital." 

"Wow," Callie swallowed. "That's- wow." 

"I would be honoured to join the shepherds." Smiled Robin, nudging her to reply properly. 

She blinked several times, forming her words. "I- I would- oh my gosh-" 

"It's okay to say no." Chrom smiled, raising his hands. 

"Yes." She breathed. "I want to be a shepherd." 

Heput his hands on his hips. "Well then." He grinned. "I guess we'll need to stock up some more before we move out." 

"-wait." Callie stiffened. "Does this mean I can finally get some pants?!" 

\----

TOO MANY WORDS PER CHAPTER IS RUINING ME AND MY WORK ETHIC

CASEY OUT *author rolls away*

Follow and review or w/e I'm dying inside


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